Mitsu "drops" Galant by 2013

An online news source reported today that Mitsubishi will drop the aging Galant (and most likely the Eclipse?) by 2013. While it didn't say so, I would have to wonder if this was brought about by the Chrysler-Fiat merger and Fiat's "reluctance" to extend a platform sharing arrangement with a "3rd party".

While I hope Mitsu has a VERY good replacement in the works (they've had....forever? to come up with one) there is no one reporting, in any English-language sources, anything about an upcoming replacement for the Galant.

I'm 99% sure the Eclipse already died in 2010.

It's nice to see that Mitsubishi is catching up with the rest of the world, who dropped the Galant years ago.

Now that I think about it, the Eclipse died in 2011. There was a news story "recently" about the last Eclipse being raffled off to benefit charity. That car was a one-of-a-kind SE convertible (the convertible Eclipse was NEVER available in the SE trim) and it was probably (I forget) a V6 with automatic, the typical rent a car lookalike.

The eclipse died in 1999. Weekend at Bernie's since then.

I always liked the Galant. Hopefully whatever they replace it with is almost the same size at least.

And comes in a TT, AWD, VR4 wagon.

Per Schroeder wrote: The eclipse died in 1999. Weekend at Bernie's since then.

The 3rd gen was in fact the worst car Mitsubishi ever built, but the newest one wasn't all that bad for a FF sports tourer. I know that wasn't what they marketed it as, but that's what it was.

Wait.

Mitsubishi makes cars?

I'm not surprised. It's been on it's way out the door for a while. It's been rather beige since it's last redesign in 2004.

Of course the 3rd gen was horrible - it was a Sebring underneath it's wavy body cladding.

People actually know which generation is which?

DSM people (myself included) quietly swore all sorts of voodoo oaths upon Mitsu when that 3rd gen travesty came out. To this day they still refuse to recognize it as a DSM. As a car, the 4th gen isn't terrible. Fairly comfy, has a few sporting pretenses, the v6 doesn't bore too much, the Fosgate stereo that was an option was pretty good. I just have a hard time believing it was an Eclipse. If they had called it something else, i'd be ok with it.

ReverendDexter wrote: Of course the 3rd gen was horrible - it was a Sebring underneath it's wavy body cladding.

Other way 'round, actually. Sebring coupes have been Mitsubishi Galant based from the start, although the first Sebring convertable used a cloud car platform instead.

Wow, I would have thought EVERYONE would hate on the 4th gen. As I said on another thread here, the 4th gen. was really just a Japanese Monte Carlo.

To me, the 3rd gen. looked like it was designed by folks who saw the Transformers movie more than once. And it looked like it was put together by the workers REJECTED for that auto plant in....SHOOT, I forget the name of that Micheal Keaton movie. The one about the auto plant that tried to get back on it's feet building Fiats (oops, you aren't supposed to know that).

Actually the 2004-current Galant is the 9th Generation

In reply to integraguy:

Gung Ho?

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

Yeah. It is on Netflix. I tried to watch it last week. I has not held up so well. Come to think of it, it kind of sucked back in the day too.

Eclipse Auction Article

"The final Eclipse, which was built in August, is being auctioned to benefit the earthquake and tsunami relief fund of Japan Red Cross. ... The Eclipse, along with the Mitsubishi Endeavor and Galant, was killed as part of the automaker's JUMP 2013 plan that focuses on small, fuel-efficient vehicles in a major product shake-up. "

Mitsubishi's "Jump 2013" plan: ...the Japanese automaker's ambitious new Jump 2013 plan that zeroes in on emerging markets and small, fuel-efficient vehicles in a major product shake-up. ... Mitsubishi's product portfolio will be revamped to include up to six new electric, hybrid/electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2015. The vehicles are unnamed at this point. ... The Jump 2013 plan discontinues "region-specific" products such as Eclipse, Endeavor and Galant and focuses on smaller cars that can be exported globally.

Bob

What cars were actually used for that movie?

RossD wrote: Wait. Mitsubishi makes cars?

Haha. Beat me to it. I sort of thought they were still selling cars in the U.S., but I honestly wasn't sure. Do they advertise at all anymore?

The thing I remember most about Mitsubishi is the hellacious depreciation on the Diamante.

What's left after you kill off the eclipse and Gallant? That only leaves the Evo, right ?

Per Schroeder wrote: The eclipse died in 1999. Weekend at Bernie's since then.

QFT. I'd love to have a 97-99 GSX some day, but the later ones are just awful. Wasn't the third-gen Eclipse the same as the Sebring under the skin?

Schmidlap wrote: ...the Japanese automaker's ambitious new Jump 2013 plan that zeroes in on emerging markets and small, fuel-efficient vehicles in a major product shake-up. ... Mitsubishi's product portfolio will be revamped to include up to six new electric, hybrid/electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2015. The vehicles are unnamed at this point. ... The Jump 2013 plan discontinues "region-specific" products such as Eclipse, Endeavor and Galant and focuses on smaller cars that can be exported globally.

I don;t read the important word.. "fun" in there at all.. so they are going the route of toyota in building efficent, boring, and reliable cars that nobody with a soul would want to drive?

dankspeed wrote: What's left after you kill off the eclipse and Gallant? That only leaves the Evo, right ?

Which is at least nearing its end IIRC. Don't they have a crossover/SUV or something, and a re-badged Nissan Frontier... or is that Suzuki?

mad_machine wrote: I don;t read the important word.. "fun" in there at all.. so they are going the route of toyota in building efficent, boring, and reliable cars that nobody with a soul would want to drive?

Yes. Last I remember hearing, once the Evo dies it's all efficent little E36 M3boxes with no fun in them at all and crossover SUVs.

And when they do this they will truly be deserving of the name E36 M3subishi.

Lets be honest, almost every Japanese car maker is moving to beige. I think I can count on one hand the fun affordable cars coming from the major automakers over there. When they see that the cars they are making only appeal to a small group of people and they're not making the money they thought they should, they decide to go in a direction that will appeal to the masses. Look at Subaru. I don't think there is a single car besides the WRX/STi that I would own for the 2011 model year; 10 years ago I liked the Legacy, Outback, Forester, and Impreza. Sure they can push their legendary AWD, but when the body on that looks like the love child an Accord, Camry, and a possum, it's not gonna be appealing. I'm speaking in terms of styling.

As for performance, I think in terms of 1960's American Big Three: Every model (or almost every one) should have a performance model. A bump in hp, stiffer suspension, and stickier tires (and hopefully a manual trans). Not a badge, fancy wheels, and a leather interior.

It wouldnt hurt.