- Mitsubishi CEO says he can’t invest in EVs on a large scale.
- This will involve collaboration rather than building from the ground up.
- Foxconn is building another EV for Mitsubishi.
Developing a new vehicle from scratch costs a lot of money, money that Mitsubishi doesn’t have. This is evident when we look at the company’s latest model, the Eclipse Sportback, which is basically a rebadged version of the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle.
Mitsubishi’s CEO spoke candidly during the company’s shareholder meeting on June 18 about why the company is not solely focusing on developing new EVs. As originally reported automotive newsTakao Kato said:
‘The reality is that (EV) development is slowing globally. For now, our approach is to address this through collaboration.
Kato-san explained to shareholders that building a specialized EV for Mitsubishi would require a “massive investment” and that if the company was forced to suffer significant losses due to lower-than-projected sales, it would “create a major management problem.”
2027 Mitsubishi Eclipse Sportback
Photo by: Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi is not alone
Fellow Japanese automaker Honda recently opted to scrap its upcoming 0 Series EV just before its launch, incurring nearly $16 billion in restructuring costs. Such a move would be far more devastating for Mitsubishi, which will sell 883,828 vehicles in 2025 compared with Honda’s 3,396,057.
Mitsubishi will announce another EV built by Foxconn in Taiwan later this year. It is unlikely that this vehicle will be sold in the United States, and will be exported to nearby markets such as Japan and Australia. Mitsubishi currently sells an EV that uses the Eclipse Cross name, but like the Eclipse Sportback, it is a rebadged model based on the Renault Scenic E-Tech.
Despite being one of the first automakers to introduce an EV with the i-MiEV in 2009, the vehicle was never given a second generation, and none of Mitsubishi’s other small EVs from the Japanese market have ever been brought stateside. Instead, the company has relied on the Rogue-based Outlander and Outlander PHEV, which recently got its own reverse rebadge job from Nissan called the Rogue PHEV.
Motor1’s Opinion: Rebadged vehicles may not be the most exciting new products, but they help an automaker like Mitsubishi compete in a new segment without massive investment. The Eclipse Sportback also adds another affordable EV in a market that’s devoid of worthwhile alternatives, so there’s no point in choosing another one, even if it’s a technical duplicate.
