Don't you wish you had a Mitsubishi?

Not now, anyway. Motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE outlines some of the ongoing problems faced by the motoring giant


First, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in Japan told porkies about vehicle recalls. That was four years ago. It said it had systematically hidden car defects for decades. The Japanese Government was so grumpy it forced Mitsubishi to delay the launch of a high-performance Evolution model as punishment.

Then Mitsubishi's North American division was sprung for fiddling sales figures. It was selling cars to people who didn't exist, using dodgy names and spellings such as Enzo Ferrari, Anna Kornacova and Supa Mann.

A revival plan enabled MMC to show a profit in 2002, but last year it suffered huge losses from buyers in North America with bad credit.

There was controversy in Australia, too, over the future of Mitsubishi's assembly plant in Adelaide. Would it close, or would it be rationalised, doing more for less?

MMC in Japan wanted Adelaide to be part of its global development, but it wanted investment from Australia to ensure the plant's continued operation.

It got that in 2002. About $100 million from the South Australian and Federal governments was earmarked for development of new models, including the Diamante sedan replacement, due in 2005/06.

Under the deal, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd had to set up a research and development centre and hire at least 300 automotive engineers and designers by next year to qualify for the financial package.

Mitsubishi began to talk up its future. Midway through 2002, Mitsubishi New Zealand, in damage control mode since the head office fiasco over recalls, did the same.

It offered an unprecedented five-year/150,000km warranty on new cars and light commercials. It talked about new models, new technology, new beginnings. It also talked about trying to repair damage done by the head office shenanigans.

The new Colt and Adelaide-built four-wheel-drive Diamante arrived here, the latest Lancer Evolution, and the standard Lancer and updated Pajero.

Mitsubishi NZ said its aim was to get back into "first division", to challenge industry sales leaders Toyota, Ford and Holden.

Across the Tasman, MMAL spent $43 million on a new large press and $250 million in a new automotive research centre. It said both were part of a $1 billion-plus investment programme for the production of two all-new models.

But head office in Japan reared its ugly head again. Cracks that had been papered over reappeared. In January 2002, a wheel fell off a Mitsubishi truck in Tokyo, killing a 29-year-old woman and injuring her two children.

A hub linking the wheel to the axle was found to be broken. The truckmaker, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus, blamed poor maintenance and overloading by the operator in a report it filed with industry regulators.

Last month, more than two years after the fatal accident, Mitsubishi Fuso announced plans to recall 220,000 trucks after acknowledging that a design flaw could cause the wheel hubs to crack.

Authorities began investigating dozens of wheel-separation accidents involving Mitsubishi trucks dating back more than a decade.

Police in Japan began building a criminal case against executives at Mitsubishi Fuso for allegedly filing a false report on the January 2002 accident to head off a recall. Resignations followed in a show of contrition. Arrests were made.

At the same time, MMC partner DaimlerChrysler announced it would not pump any more money into the Japanese carmaker, which had planned to raise several billion dollars worth of capital from shareholders to restructure its struggling business. DaimlerChrysler holds a 37 per cent stake in MMC, which has more than 43,000 workers worldwide.

MMC turned to the Mitsubishi group of companies, major shareholders in the carmaker that make up a powerful conglomerate with roots in the 1800s. The group said it would try to turn MMC around.

In Adelaide, MMAL feared for its future after the DaimlerChrysler announcement. The South Australian and Federal governments threatened to bill MMC billions of dollars under loan provisions it had made if it closed the Adelaide plant.

In late May, MMAL said the plant would continue. There would be redundancies, cost-cutting, and an engine plant would close, but it was otherwise business as usual.

Then came the Fuso truck and Galant and Legnum car recalls in New Zealand. In the past four year years, MMC has recalled millions of vehicles and suffered huge loses. Its sales in Japan have never recovered.

The other day two prominent Mitsubishi dealers in Australia dropped the franchise. They had had enough. Blame Japan, they said.