Clean Green Cars: Should Mitsubishi and Suzuki say sayonara to America?

Should Mitsubishi and Suzuki say sayonara to America?

Considering their diminutive and dwindling degree of market share in the U.S., should Suzuki and Mitsubishi say sayonara to America and concentrate their efforts elsewhere? That’s what some industry analysts are recommending. Says Yuuki Sakurai of Fukoku Capital Management,

“It’s time for them to decide whether they pay a high price to continue business there or stop the bleeding,”

His fellow auto analyst over at Okasan Securities, Yasuaki Iwamoto, agrees and says they should just forget about America and that Suzuki, in particular, should devote its resources to the small cars that have had good success in other markets. So, are they listening?

It appears not. Suzuki, for their part, will likely release the mid-size Kazashi next year and continue their collaboration on green tech with GM. They would also seem to be betting that, as the price of gas rises, Americans may be willing to spend more time and money in their showrooms. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi’s president Osamu Masuko is confident that the American market will rebound and has made his company’s intentions clear stating, “We will never give up the U.S. market,” It would seem they are pinning a lot of their U.S. hopes on the global version of the all-electric i MiEV since that is the only new model on the horizon. That could prove to be problematic since it remains to be seen how popular a tiny “kei-class” car like the iMiEV will be in the US market and profitability and prices of EVs will be extremely challenging.

Gallery: Mitsubishi Global i MiEV prototype