Vike
Well-known member
Which takes us back to my earlier point - the i-MiEV may only be a viable proposition as a ship-to-order product. For its niche market, it's a VERY attractive car, but value-first EV buyers are probably distributed pretty randomly. Things might improve after the Outlander PHEV makes maintaining EV certification for mechanics more worthwhile, but until then Mitsubishi needs to subsidize demo units (with nice garish I'M AN EV wraps) and tech training if they want to give the car any hope of selling.iwatson said:
And again, the open question is if that IS what they want to do. The barrage of bad stupid press (i.e., "I drove this car for 20 minutes and it sucks" as opposed to the "I've owned this car for a year and it sucks" stories that we're NOT seeing) may have convinced them that the i-MiEV is only going to sell to acquaintances of current owners so, why bother? Mitsu apparently thinks it best to just fill orders from those who really want the i-MiEV and save the push for the all-new 2016 Outlander PHEV and the next-gen BEV coming from the Nissan partnership. If the 2016 Outlander is as big a refinement/improvement as the spokesdroids claim, this may be workable.
The problem is that in the meantime dealers are closing their doors (I know mine was demoted to its group's downtown used car lot). With the regular Lancer losing ground after competing compacts got refreshes and the Evo end-of-life, the Eclipse and Galant gone, and the Mirage getting savaged by reviewers almost as badly as the i-MiEV, the Outlander models are really the whole ballgame right now. Considering that Mitsu's even undercut those by making plans for an all-new Outlander in 2016 a matter of public knowledge, how many dealers will still be around for what we all hope will finally be some good news?
