Mitsubishi learns from previous electric mistakes

[Kuuuurija]

Mitsubishi learns from success of Outlander PHEV and failure of pure electric iMiev:
http://www.businesscar.co.uk/news/2015/mitsubishi-learns-from-previous-electric-mistakes

 

[PV1]

They think the price of the i-MiEV is what is hindering sales? Funny, nearly everybody I talk to doesn't even know Mitsubishi has an EV, let alone the fact that it is the cheapest EV in the US to buy, both new and used.

The i-MiEV has been at one of the last four auto shows in town. The only way I knew Mitsubishi made an EV before buying mine was from a video game.

 

[Don]

True - If they actually 'learned anything' it would be that zero $$$ spent on marketing = zero sales . . . . but I don't see a lick of evidence that they've learned anything . . . . yet

Don

 

[Kuuuurija]

They think the price of the i-MiEV is what is hindering sales? Funny, nearly everybody I talk to doesn't even know Mitsubishi has an EV, let alone the fact that it is the cheapest EV in the US to buy, both new and used.

The i-MiEV has been at one of the last four auto shows in town. The only way I knew Mitsubishi made an EV before buying mine was from a video game.

It is hard to believe that today, in internet era, it is possible to miss such information, if you are interested in cars. I, for instance, don't know anything about sewing machines on the market today, but I do not think, that they spend nothing for marketing sewing machines at all.

 

[sandange]

I personally think the tittle of the article is miss leading.


It reads the terms "Electric Mistakes"

In my opinion it should read "Mistakes in Marketing Electric Vehicles"

 

[Kuuuurija]

I personally think the tittle of the article is miss leading.


It reads the terms "Electric Mistakes"

In my opinion it should read "Mistakes in Marketing Electric Vehicles"

What mistakes they made in marketing?
I think biggest mistake was, that they paid special attention on US market, made special (larger) model for it and sold too cheap there. If the price in US was higher (like it was in Estonia, where initial price of the iMiev started from 36000 €), some TV commercials should be afforded. But then again expectations of buyers would be higher and if the car does not meet those expectations, marketing disaster will happen sooner or later.

 

[PV1]

Mistakes in the US Market:

1. $3,000 premium package on SE model to get CHAdeMO and Nav system.
2. No/minimal advertising in the conventional streams (radio, TV, billboards). Come on Mitsubishi, even just a quick glance in a full lineup commercial, like what Nissan does.
3. Giving "professional" reviewers the fully loaded SE premium, and not countering their false claims (see Tesla responses to false reviews).

Making the NA model larger was not a mistake. Some people still see the i-MiEV as too small, even though it is very close in size to a RAV4 SUV (the RAV4 in this picture is also electric):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xyu47bqw6hwa2be/IMG_20150920_100509.jpg?dl=0

To grow on #3 above, some of the claims are flat out false, and the only people to counter and correct them are us owners in the comments sections. Some examples from The Fast Lane Car:

1. Top speed of 61 mph. No, it is 81 MPH, you need to push on the throttle, just as you do in any other car.
2. Claiming that Mitsubishi has bad priorities by making the USB port optional but the MiEV remote standard. Go through one winter without that remote, and you understand why it's standard equipment.
3. The lady needing to charge halfway across Washington, DC. The city is only 20 miles wide at the most. Plus, she used a level 2 when there are nearly a dozen quick chargers around (she reviewed the 2014, so quick charging is standard equipment).

They did about as bad a job as Top Gear did with the Tesla Roadster.

I'm very tempted to write a letter to Corporate, or maybe create my own commercial. How can I promote the i-MiEV to other people at EVents when there isn't one for sale within a 200-mile radius?

 

[Kuuuurija]

$3000, was it too low or too high? Even with this add, the price for iMiev in US was significantly smaller compared with the price in Europe.

How many times/hours they advertised in TV/radio? How many TV/radio channels are you monitoring constantly? If the lack of knowledge of existence of this model was the main reason for low sales, then every sold car should improve awareness and sales should boost.

Maximum speed is evaluated at certain conditions. Downhill and back wind driving may give higher speeds than official maximum.

 

[PV1]

The rated max speed is 81 mph. I've done 70 mph uphill, 75 mph overall pretty easy. I have no doubt the i-MiEV can get to and maintain 81 MPH.

For what you got, I think $3,000 was too high, and the reviewers slammed the car because of that. I just put a full blown touchscreen head unit in my car for $420. The CHAdeMO option was $700 from the factory. Steering wheel controls cost another $1,800?

The i-MiEV outside the US has many more color options and convenience features. I've seen i-MiEVs with automatic power folding mirrors, leather interior, and LED headlights with leveling. No US i-MiEV has those even as options. Kei cars are not in demand in the US like they are elsewhere, and are priced accordingly. SUV and pickup trucks however, have a substantial premium in their price.

I regularly watch two networks, and have seen zero i-MiEV ads. The only one I've heard was a radio ad from a local dealer trying to clear his inventory, and it was piggybacked off of a Mirage commercial.

 

[Mart]

$3000, was it too low or too high? Even with this add, the price for iMiev in US was significantly smaller compared with the price in Europe.

How many times/hours they advertised in TV/radio? How many TV/radio channels are you monitoring constantly? If the lack of knowledge of existence of this model was the main reason for low sales, then every sold car should improve awareness and sales should boost.

Maximum speed is evaluated at certain conditions. Downhill and back wind driving may give higher speeds than official maximum.

The price difference of vehicles sold in Europe vs. the US has much more to do with VAT and government imposed taxes than with the manufacturer. I no longer even see Mitsubishi advertisements, as there is no longer a local dealer to support. Top speed of 81 mph / 130 kph is more than enough to drive on US roads within legal speed limits while allowing a buffer for passing speed. Having the "wind at your back" is not an issue, as the car doesn't use sails for propulsion.

 

[Kuuuurija]

Here in Estonia we had long and very agressive advertisement campaign. I think that every OTA TV channel was included. It was possible to see an ad maybe 20 times per day and this campaign lasted for several months and then repeated again after short silence.
Similar massive campaign was in radio too. It was really annoying.
I do not have cable networks, so can not tell what happened there.

The result of this massive ad campaign was, that only 3 private persons bought an iMiev as personal car. Up to 40 iMievs were bought for companies (for taxi and car rental companies, etc, some of them state owned companies). And the rest of Estonian iMievs (507 cars) belong to the state.

 

[Kuuuurija]

The price difference of vehicles sold in Europe vs. the US has much more to do with VAT and government imposed taxes than with the manufacturer. I no longer even see Mitsubishi advertisements, as there is no longer a local dealer to support. Top speed of 81 mph / 130 kph is more than enough to drive on US roads within legal speed limits while allowing a buffer for passing speed. Having the "wind at your back" is not an issue, as the car doesn't use sails for propulsion.

European version iMievs on Estonian higways have top speed 50 mph / 80 km/h. If to judge about their speed in highway, where 68 mph / 110 km/h is allowed.

Estonia does not have special car taxes. Cars from outside of EU are taxed with toll tax (10%) + VAT (20%). Only VAT (now 20%) is applied for cars produced in EU.

 

[rkarl89203]

Perhaps if they would look under bridge....

 

[Kuuuurija]

The maximum speed of a car might be limited by different factors:
1. Technical properties of the car.
2. Driving conditions (traffic jams, bad roads etc)
3. Legal limitations (lagal speeding limits)
4. There can be also maximum speed, that allows to gain promised range, as higher speed drains battery too fast.

 

[JoeS]

This discussion has drifted off-topic too far. Locking this thread for now.