Mitsubishi is a small Japanese car maker, that has for years struggled against stronger domestic manufacturers. It's car production goes back to 1917 and after the disruption of WWII, it was back into car making.
By the 1970's Chrysler bought a 15% stake and Mitsubishi made cars for them. Chrysler got into trouble and the arrangement was finished by the early 1990's. Mitsubishi was doing well at the time and nearly took over Honda, but that failed. Daimler acquired a share in Mitsubishi but it wasn't a happy union and after divesting its interest, Mitsubishi Motors had no trucking operation and was lacking new models to release. From here, it was all uphill. Mitsubishi since then has had numerous collaborations, with the likes of Volvo, PSA and Proton.
As for production of cars and LCVs, they are centred on the Asian region, the most successful area for sales. The figures below are percentages by region, taken form data the company releases. I have tried to keep the figures just to Mitsubishi branded vehicles.
Summary: Over 90% of Mitsubishi production is in Asia. It has since pulled out of North America and Europe. The rest is minimal and probably more assembly than anything else. It was really game over when it recently admitting falsifying fuel data within Japan. However, Nissan has taken charge and that will safeguard Mitsubishi's future.
Data source: Mitsubishi.
By the 1970's Chrysler bought a 15% stake and Mitsubishi made cars for them. Chrysler got into trouble and the arrangement was finished by the early 1990's. Mitsubishi was doing well at the time and nearly took over Honda, but that failed. Daimler acquired a share in Mitsubishi but it wasn't a happy union and after divesting its interest, Mitsubishi Motors had no trucking operation and was lacking new models to release. From here, it was all uphill. Mitsubishi since then has had numerous collaborations, with the likes of Volvo, PSA and Proton.
As for production of cars and LCVs, they are centred on the Asian region, the most successful area for sales. The figures below are percentages by region, taken form data the company releases. I have tried to keep the figures just to Mitsubishi branded vehicles.
| Jap | Asia | N Am | L Am | Euro | ME/Af | Oce | ||
| 97 | 69.9 | 13.3 | 7.3 | - | 5.6 | 0.1 | 4.0 | |
| 98 | 70.6 | 12.1 | 7.0 | 0.1 | 6.5 | 0.2 | 3.4 | |
| 99 | 66.6 | 12.2 | 8.8 | 0.2 | 9.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | |
| 00 | 61.4 | 15.5 | 13.3 | 0.5 | 5.7 | 0.8 | 2.8 | |
| 01 | 59.4 | 15.1 | 13.6 | 0.7 | 6.5 | 1.1 | 3.6 | |
| 02 | 57.5 | 17.8 | 13.3 | 0.8 | 6.6 | 0.6 | 3.5 | |
| 03 | 61.2 | 18.0 | 10.5 | 1.1 | 6.1 | 0.6 | 2.6 | |
| 04 | 54.7 | 25.0 | 6.4 | 1.9 | 9.5 | 0.8 | 1.6 | |
| 05 | 60.4 | 22.0 | 7.7 | 1.7 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | |
| 06 | 63.6 | 18.6 | 7.7 | 1.7 | 6.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | |
| 07 | 65.0 | 20.3 | 5.6 | 2.5 | 5.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | |
| 08 | 64.1 | 23.6 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | |
| 09 | 60.7 | 27.3 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 0.5 | - | |
| 10 | 61.0 | 29.8 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 0.4 | - | |
| 11 | 56.5 | 34.3 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 2.1 | 0.2 | - | |
| 12 | 43.1 | 47.9 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 1.2 | - | - | |
| 13 | 50.3 | 41.0 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | - | |
| 14 | 50.9 | 40.9 | 4.9 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 0.0 | - |
Summary: Over 90% of Mitsubishi production is in Asia. It has since pulled out of North America and Europe. The rest is minimal and probably more assembly than anything else. It was really game over when it recently admitting falsifying fuel data within Japan. However, Nissan has taken charge and that will safeguard Mitsubishi's future.
Data source: Mitsubishi.
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