Oct 14, 2026 · 11 min · 8 segments
Once a recognizable player in the American automotive market, Mitsubishi now faces a critical question: Can it reinvent itself before consumers stop paying attention altogether? In this episode of…
Ken ChesterHost
Mitsubishi at one time, long time ago, had aspirations of being a full-line manufacturer.
Not minivan, I'm sorry, their first SUV, which was built, it was not badge engineered.
Fifty years ago, Mitsubishi was Chrysler's savior when Chrysler needed dependable, reliable, small cars to sell.
Mitsubishi came up with the Dodge and Plymouth Colt and the, and the Eagle and a few other vehicles that were from the Mitsubishi lineup that got badge engineered or re-badged as Dodges and Plymouths.
They created a joint venture called Diamond-Star Motors, and they built an assembly plant in Normal, Illinois, brand new, 1988, 1989, the Mitsubishi Eclipse, and there was a Chrysler product that came out of there as well, and they did that for about ten, 15 years.
Then Mitsubishi bought Chrysler out, and it became their plant, and from there, and this is about 25 years ago, Mitsubishi said, "Okay, we are going to have an initiative called Project America.
We are gonna spend one point six billion dollars at this plant developing new products built here for Americans." Would've worked, too, except for a few things that jammed them up.
The self-infliction was in the early 2000s, Mitsubishi came out with a zero, zero, zero plan, uh, zero down payment, uh, zero times, zero interest.
It was a lousy plan, uh, for Mitsubishi if your credit was bad, and Mitsubishi got jacked up financially, really bad with that promotion.
Then, right at the crux of when their new, uh, SUV was coming out, here comes the recession, and they got caught, and little bit by little bit, they stopped selling certain vehicles in the United States.
Mitsubishi at one time, long time ago, had aspirations of being a full-line manufacturer.
Not minivan, I'm sorry, their first SUV, which was built, it was not badge engineered.
Fifty years ago, Mitsubishi was Chrysler's savior when Chrysler needed dependable, reliable, small cars to sell.
Mitsubishi came up with the Dodge and Plymouth Colt and the, and the Eagle and a few other vehicles that were from the Mitsubishi lineup that got badge engineered or re-badged as Dodges and Plymouths.
They created a joint venture called Diamond-Star Motors, and they built an assembly plant in Normal, Illinois, brand new, 1988, 1989, the Mitsubishi Eclipse, and there was a Chrysler product that came out of there as well, and they did that for about ten, 15 years.
Then Mitsubishi bought Chrysler out, and it became their plant, and from there, and this is about 25 years ago, Mitsubishi said, "Okay, we are going to have an initiative called Project America.
We are gonna spend one point six billion dollars at this plant developing new products built here for Americans." Would've worked, too, except for a few things that jammed them up.
The self-infliction was in the early 2000s, Mitsubishi came out with a zero, zero, zero plan, uh, zero down payment, uh, zero times, zero interest.
It was a lousy plan, uh, for Mitsubishi if your credit was bad, and Mitsubishi got jacked up financially, really bad with that promotion.
Then, right at the crux of when their new, uh, SUV was coming out, here comes the recession, and they got caught, and little bit by little bit, they stopped selling certain vehicles in the United States.
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