iMiev not selling well?

[MLucas]

Sorry to see consumers are having a hard time getting this car. Doesn't seem to be the case in my area. I went to London Mitsubishi in London, Ontario where I had a doctor's appointment for my son. I scheduled a test drive after the appointment. The dealership had one available and had sold the other four. They said they had two more on the way and customers where already interested in buying those.

Here in Canada, the i is sold differently than it is in the US. We don't have a list of options to choose from and we don't have an ES or SE model per se. It's either the i or the i with Premium package. Your choice is either A or B and if the dealer has what you are looking for you take it. We don't worry about if the car has CHAdeMO charger, or cold weather package or heated mirrors. Basically, all the cars here come with the best features and the Premium package brings on the rest like the brown interior, alloy wheels, sat nav and few other doo-dads.

Basically, I walked in - liked the one they had on the lot and bought it. I only wanted the ES, nothing more and the black suited me just fine. I now have an i MiEV without the hassle of having to wait on a list. I don't know why cars are sold so differently between the US and Canada. I'll never understand that.

 

[fjpod]

Sorry to see consumers are having a hard time getting this car. Doesn't seem to be the case in my area. I went to London Mitsubishi in London, Ontario where I had a doctor's appointment for my son. I scheduled a test drive after the appointment. The dealership had one available and had sold the other four. They said they had two more on the way and customers where already interested in buying those.

Here in Canada, the i is sold differently than it is in the US. We don't have a list of options to choose from and we don't have an ES or SE model per se. It's either the i or the i with Premium package. Your choice is either A or B and if the dealer has what you are looking for you take it. We don't worry about if the car has CHAdeMO charger, or cold weather package or heated mirrors. Basically, all the cars here come with the best features and the Premium package brings on the rest like the brown interior, alloy wheels, sat nav and few other doo-dads.

Basically, I walked in - liked the one they had on the lot and bought it. I only wanted the ES, nothing more and the black suited me just fine. I now have an i MiEV without the hassle of having to wait on a list. I don't know why cars are sold so differently between the US and Canada. I'll never understand that.

That's pretty much the way I bought mine in the US. I saw the i at the NY Auto show. A few weeks later I started seeing them at the dealer near my house. Test drove one or two, tried a different dealer for a better price and got it. Smiling ever since.

 

[archie_b]

July sales figures (US and Canada) for EVs are now available:

Volt 1,910
Leaf 418
i 33

Availability should not be an issue as almost 700 are advertised for sale at US Mitsubishi dealers alone. A $249 a month lease was available the entire month of July also. I noted that most dealers are still advertising the i at full MSRP. I wonder if this is impacting sales, especially as summer is usually the start of clearance sales.

 

[fjpod]

July sales figures (US and Canada) for EVs are now available:

Volt 1,910
Leaf 418
i 33

Availability should not be an issue as almost 700 are advertised for sale at US Mitsubishi dealers alone. A $249 a month lease was available the entire month of July also. I noted that most dealers are still advertising the i at full MSRP. I wonder if this is impacting sales, especially as summer is usually the start of clearance sales.

My dealer came down $1250 from MSRP, in May.

 

[archie_b]

Made a mistake on the July i sales. Correct amount is 44. Forgot to add the 11 sales in Canada to the 33 sold in the US.

 

[jray3]

More lackluster news; the Pugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero versions of our i have suspended production due to rising inventories in Europe.

http://insideevs.com/mitsubishi-hal...ot-citroen-rebadged-i-miev-due-to-slow-sales/

It may just be a case of PSA being overoptimistic in their ordering, as those cars have been selling much better than the US iMiEV, with 1787 iOn/C-Zero sold in the last six months.

 

[PV1]

I first heard about the i on Gran Turismo 5, which I have the Japan-spec red-white i-MiEV. Then I went to the local auto show and saw that the dealer had a white SE on display with the city wrap and tons of 'i like' phrases on it. Looked up the dealer, they had a silver ES, which I test Drove (loved it). They since sold that one. They sold the first i in the area, and once they sold the silver i, they ordered 4 i's, all ES with quick charge in all four colors. So far, they've sold the Raspberry, and have the other 3 still in stock. That makes their sales 3 cars. They have the i display setup inside, two chargers outside in front, and they park the i's in front. Range anxiety from consumers is really bad around here.

I plan on picking up a silver i before the next President takes office because I'm fearing a repeat of the EV1, and I want this car really bad. My fuel savings would make the payments.

 

[tonymil]

Sales figures in Canada are about to go up! Go Vancouver!!

http://www.istockanalyst.com/busine...-purchases-13-mitsubishi-i-miev-electric-cars

 

[MLucas]

Nice figures from Canada.

--on another note, but on the same topic--

I was looking at a few of the car sites like Edmunds and Cars.Com and saw there was very few customer reviews for the i MiEV. I put one on both sites. Not sure if it will do any good but it can't hurt if there are more customer reviews for the i on these sites. If there are other places, let us know and I'll do my part to spread the word about the i.

 

[jray3]

August was another month in the doldrums, at 37 sales.
http://insideevs.com/august-2012-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/

 

[statik]

Nice figures from Canada.

--on another note, but on the same topic--

I was looking at a few of the car sites like Edmunds and Cars.Com and saw there was very few customer reviews for the i MiEV. I put one on both sites. Not sure if it will do any good but it can't hurt if there are more customer reviews for the i on these sites. If there are other places, let us know and I'll do my part to spread the word about the i.

Hey,

A little late to the party, but I just found you guys, (=

I write over at InsideEVs, and we are lacking a 'long term' review of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (I don't feel I really can qualify to do it myself, having only one in my driveway for about a week and a half over the summer, lol). With so few i cars out there, I have had a lot of trouble running anyone down who has put 5-10k on one.

If anyone wants to volunteer some of their time (and 1s and 0s) to put something together with a few pictures, or wants to send over some news/article ideas, I would be happy to get the word out. Just send me a shoutout.

Jay Cole
(statik around some other places on the interwebs)

[email protected]

 

[UnderPSI]

Nice figures from Canada.

--on another note, but on the same topic--

I was looking at a few of the car sites like Edmunds and Cars.Com and saw there was very few customer reviews for the i MiEV. I put one on both sites. Not sure if it will do any good but it can't hurt if there are more customer reviews for the i on these sites. If there are other places, let us know and I'll do my part to spread the word about the i.

Hey,

A little late to the party, but I just found you guys, (=

I write over at InsideEVs, and we are lacking a 'long term' review of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (I don't feel I really can qualify to do it myself, having only one in my driveway for about a week and a half over the summer, lol). With so few i cars out there, I have had a lot of trouble running anyone down who has put 5-10k on one.

If anyone wants to volunteer some of their time (and 1s and 0s) to put something together with a few pictures, or wants to send over some news/article ideas, I would be happy to get the word out. Just send me a shoutout.

Jay Cole
(statik around some other places on the interwebs)

[email protected]

Had mine since June of this year with over 3600 miles on it so far. What would you like to know?

 

[alohart]

InsideEVs just published a very pessimistic article about the i-MiEV's future based on comments made by Mitsubishi Motors' president at the Sydney Auto Show. InsideEVs interpretation of the president's comments: “the i-MiEV is now on life-support, and we are just warning the family that the end is near.”

I hope this interpretation is wrong, but I've been wondering why we haven't read about any 2013 model plans by now and how long Mitsubishi, not a big player in the automobile market, would support the i-MiEV considering its very poor worldwide sales. Already the owner of a car whose total worldwide sales didn't reach 20,000 and whose parts are becoming expensive to buy, the original Honda Insight, I'm questioning the wisdom of buying a car from a much smaller car manufacturer whose sales may not reach that level, the i-MiEV.

Also, CNNMoney just posted a snarky, negative video review of a fully-loaded i-MiEV. I can agree with the reviewer that a $35,000 price for even a fully-loaded i-MiEV is difficult to justify.

Not a good day in the media for the i-MiEV

 

[Don]

Already the owner of a car whose total worldwide sales didn't reach 20,000 and whose parts are becoming expensive to buy, the original Honda Insight, I'm questioning the wisdom of buying a car from a much smaller car manufacturer whose sales may not reach that level, the i-MiEV.

I'd imagine you're still glad you bought your Insight when you did though?

If the iMiEV is discontinued next week, next month or next year, I'll be super happy that I bought mine when I did, as opposed to waiting 'til next year to see if any improvements were made to the 2013 model - I love the car and would be kicking myself forever if I'd missed out on the opportunity to buy one. I'm glad they were actually for sale as opposed to the lease only option offered with the GM EV-1. From what I've read, most all of the 'owners' were really ticked when they had to turn those in to be crushed. Kudo's to Mitsu for not following THAT lead!

Don

 

[fjpod]

InsideEVs just published a very pessimistic article about the i-MiEV's future based on comments made by Mitsubishi Motors' president at the Sydney Auto Show. InsideEVs interpretation of the president's comments: “the i-MiEV is now on life-support, and we are just warning the family that the end is near.”

I hope this interpretation is wrong, but I've been wondering why we haven't read about any 2013 model plans by now and how long Mitsubishi, not a big player in the automobile market, would support the i-MiEV considering its very poor worldwide sales. Already the owner of a car whose total worldwide sales didn't reach 20,000 and whose parts are becoming expensive to buy, the original Honda Insight, I'm questioning the wisdom of buying a car from a much smaller car manufacturer whose sales may not reach that level, the i-MiEV.

Also, CNNMoney just posted a snarky, negative video review of a fully-loaded i-MiEV. I can agree with the reviewer that a $35,000 price for even a fully-loaded i-MiEV is difficult to justify.

Not a good day in the media for the i-MiEV

Are you sure they weren't talking about the gasoline version?? Or the smaller narrower Japanese/European version?

 

[tonymil]

Wow, just wow. That's very upsetting. Not just abandoning the MiEV but ev's in general. That would be so short-sighted.

 

[Don]

Wow, just wow. That's very upsetting. Not just abandoning the MiEV but ev's in general. That would be so short-sighted.

I don't think they're 'abandoning' it, or EV's in general - They're made in Japan and they're pretty good sellers there as well as some other places. They may rethink trying to sell them here though. A large percentage of the North American populace seem to think that if a car can't go 500 miles, it's next to useless

I'd hate to see them quit selling them here - You have to admit they haven't tried marketing them hardly at all. Whatever happens, I sure hope they're planning on supporting those that they've sold here . . . . I'd really like to be able to get a new battery pack 6 or 8 years from now if the need arises

Don

 

[alohart]

Whatever happens, I sure hope they're planning on supporting those that they've sold here . . . . I'd really like to be able to get a new battery pack 6 or 8 years from now if the need arises

I believe there's a U.S. law requiring vehicle manufacturers to continue supplying parts for at least 10 years after a vehicle was produced. But finding and paying for increasingly rare parts could become problems. And will Mitsubishi still be selling vehicles in the U.S. in 10 years? Mitsubishi Motors doesn't seem to be doing very well.

As far as the battery pack is concerned, it's likely that replacement battery packs could be constructed from improved cells down the road. That's less of a concern to me than parts for the remainder of the car. Honda Insights have been extremely reliable except for their battery packs and some manual transmission design weaknesses. But I'm not so confident about the generable reliability of Mitsubishi vehicles, in general. But maybe they are just as reliable as most other Japanese vehicles. There just aren't as many Mitsubishi vehicles or dealers in the U.S. compared with Toyotas, Hondas, and even Nissans.

 

[alohart]

I'd imagine you're still glad you bought your Insight when you did though?

I bought mine lightly used (~9,500 miles) but at a substantial discount over the new price, so I am happy that I bought it when I did. And I would be happy to buy an i at a substantial discount as well. But I'm less thrilled to buy a new i at near MSRP if its future availability is in doubt. If Mitsubishi were to discontinue selling the i in the U.S. after the 2012 model, I wonder how i owners 5 years from now would feel. If the i proves to be very reliable, then owners should continue to be happy. But if it becomes so troublesome that many owners would like to sell it, the market would likely be very poor resulting in a significant financial loss for owners who paid full price for a new i.

The Insight has a vibrant owner community that has found ways to extend battery pack life, add vital instrumentation, find parts at reasonable prices, etc. But so few i's have been sold compared to the Insight that its owner community has far fewer people committed to supporting it. However, I'm happy to see the effort to reverse-engineer the i's CAN communications which could certainly help with future support. I hope such efforts continue.

 

[sandange]

Here is my warped sense of reasoning

We committed to buy the I Miev

We did our calculations, financially, based on the previous 4 years average car expenses we had.
We pretty much PREPAID OUR GAS & MAINTENANCE bill for 4 years based on those figures - to break even to buy an EV.

WE are 1 consumer that has signed off of buying gas for the next 8 Years or at least as long as our Battery is guaranteed

Do not under estimate how this can have serious corporate financial implications in the big picture should this phenomena continue.

I have purchased 3 different new Mitsubishi vehicles in the past and have had excellent experiences.

Since my purchase then (4 Months), Gas prices have shot up significantly.
This in my opinion should catalyst the sales of EVs

The price of the I Miev has not gone up at all - if anything gone down

Charging infrastructure has greatly improved in our area in the past 6 months and has a promising expansion in the next 6 months.

We have no regrets we bought the I Miev