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Automotive Industry

Defining The Brand

Automotive Industries, Sept, 1999 by Ken Gross

The 2000 Eclipse and Montero Sport embody what Mitsubishi is all about. Now the company must spread their attributes to the rest of its products.

Mitsubishi's North American operation enters 2000 with two outstanding new models, and numerous serious challenges. The stylish Eclipse sports coupe that younger buyers love has been enlarged and smoothed out a bit, with a smooth V-6 replacing the rorty turbo four. And despite tough competition from Nissan's bargain-priced Xterra, the still-affordable and even more refined Montero Sport should command a keen following.

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The vehicles debut as Mitsubishi enjoys a 15% rise in U.S. sales, due in part to dynamic new chief Pierre Gagnon and his attention to customers and internal details. But amid the good news, the company remains an anomaly among Japanese automakers. Selling about 150,000 vehicles annually in the U.S. is a respectible total if you're Mercedes-Benz or BMW, but it's very inadequate when you're chasing Toyota, Honda, and a revitalized Nissan. Like Mazda, Mitsubishi tries to do nearly everything the big guys do, but it can't match the development budgets of its much larger rivals.

Then there's a lackluster brand image that's scarcely helped by "Wake Up and Drive" -- a subtly sarcastic ad campaign that's too reminiscent of Mazda's current efforts. Galant, Mirage and Diamante are Velveeta-cheese generic. They're not bad cars, but they're hardly, memorable. Most importantly, Mitsubishi suffers an incomplete product line. It lacks too many key products, including an effective high-volume Camry-fighter, a mini sport-ute, a competitive pickup, an upscale sedan range, a roadster and a minivan. That's a deep hole to climb out of as the new century arrives.

Because both vehicles sell very well Stateside, design work for the Eclipse and Montero Sport was largely a U.S. responsibility. That's a sorely needed move -- the vehicles now reflect American tastes, rather than those of the Japanese market. Mitsubishi needs to do this with the rest of its model range. Over a haft-million Eclipses were sold in the last 10 years; the car has a cult following, especially in California, where owners typically give it lowered suspensions, big-bore exhausts, trick wheels, flashy paint and a hot engine control chip, eclipsing Ford's Probe, Mazda's MX6, and worry Acura's popular Integra.

The car takes its styling cues from the company's SST showcar. Designer Dan Sims calls the form `geo-mechanical' -- angular side strakes, flowing roofline, metal-in-motion functionality and fat rubber. And the body's nearly 50% more rigid so the suspension can have more compliance.

That's good, because the hip kids who cruise in older Eclipses know it's all about style. Hopefully they'll ignore the fact that the new car is longer, lower and wider (more adult); that the awd and turbo are history, and there's slightly less horsepower. The 4-cylinder models are aggressively priced below $18,000; V-6s start in the $20,000s. They'll do a Spyder, only with a V-6, next year.

Mitsubishi had better hope the new car's good looks and more adult girth can overcome the old model's lean, hot rod-appeal. The 20-to-29 age group is rapidly becoming the 40-to-59 crow(t These folk want fun-to-drive attributes, but in a more mature setting The Eclipse buyer is just as likely to come from a domestic car (they aren't truck converts) as he or she is from another import.

The Montero's planners wisely have expanded the range to four flavors: ES, LS, XLS and LTD, packed in more luxo-features, dropped the stuff nobody wanted, and basically made a good SUV better. The new styling looks more expensive than its sticker reveals. Montero buyers are bargain-driven; they don't want the quirky styling of Isuzu's VehiCross and they're not seduced by the creamy Lexus RX300. If the nameplate's traditional value is still there. Montero Sport should help keep Mitsubishi a sport-ute contender.

Now the company needs to decide what it wants to be, develop a focused U.S. product range, and communicate a clearly-defined image. Styling and performance should always be a major part of Mitsubishi's message -- it executes both very well when it tries. Company research says the Eclipse defines the Mitsubishi brand for many buyers. Mitsubishi needs to incorporate more of its attributes into everything it builds. Only then will this car company really distinguish itself.

Ken Gross is AI's veteran marketing analyst and director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Automotive Industry

Defining The Brand

Automotive Industries, Sept, 1999 by Ken Gross

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