Mitsubishi Puts Raider Production on Hold

[Ikudni]

LOS ANGELES — Mitsubishi has asked the Chrysler group to halt production temporarily of the slow-selling Raider as the pickup languishes on dealers' lots.

The Raider, assembled alongside its sibling, the Dodge Dakota, posted sales of just 492 units in February. The company had a hefty 208-day supply of the pickup as of March 1. Sixty days is seen as a general goal.

In February, the company started offering $3,000 dealer cash.

The Raider went on sale last September.

"The dealers are not doing well with that truck. We can't hide that," said Chuck Barber, a member of the Mitsubishi dealer council. "It needs to be priced more competitively."

Larry Goldstein, general manager of Castle Mitsubishi in Chicago, said he has sold only one Raider since November.

"We've asked the company for floorplan assistance but were told no," he said.

The Raider's problems are part of a larger malaise at Mitsubishi. Through two months of this year, Mitsubishi sales in the United States are down 21.8 percent to 15,445 from the same period of 2005. Dealers are lobbying the company for more incentives.

Dealers say the Raider is overshadowed by the Dakota, which posted sales of 6,260 in February.

Both pickups come with V-6 or V-8 engines. The Raider's base price is $19,825. The Dakota starts at $20,885. Both prices include shipping.

Rumors are rampant among dealers and some Mitsubishi employees that the Raider could be canceled after one model year. They say Mitsubishi so far has ordered fewer than half of the approximately 20,000 minimum units it promised to order from the Chrysler group assembly plant in Warren, Mich., during the first year.

Rich Gilligan, co-CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., said no decision has been made to cancel the pickup. It's not clear when production might resume. He hopes the incentives will spark sales.

"We have adjusted the orders of Raider because we have too many in inventory," Gilligan said. "So we will watch it over the next four to six months, and that will determine how we will go forward with ordering."

[ChikagoGTZ]

Owned.

[G-spot]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChikagoGTZ)</div><div class='quotemain'>Owned.</div>

Did Mitsu broke ties with chrysler, like a few years ago? I've seen <span style='font-size:30pt;line-height:100%'>0</span> Raider sightings in Houston and we're pretty big on trucks. Why buy a Mitsu product if a Dodge engine is in it. Own3d X 100

[manybrews]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(G-spot)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChikagoGTZ)</div><div class='quotemain'>Owned.</div>

Did Mitsu broke ties with chrysler, like a few years ago? I've seen <span style='font-size:30pt;line-height:100%'>0</span> Raider sightings in Houston and we're pretty big on trucks. Why buy a Mitsu product if a Dodge engine is in it. Own3d X 100</div>
the biggest reason is the warranty, which is better.

Otherwise, it was someones marketing decision upstairs. And a poor one at that.
I mean, all of the mechanics knew that a rebadged pickup doesnt sell. NO ONE can sell them. In fact, EVERYONE knows this. It has nothing at all to do with the quality of the truck (and it IS a very nice truck). its the mentality of truck buyers.
Some dipshit thought it would be brilliant to market to a segment that is almost impossible to break into, using basically no advertisement, using someone elses product.

I hope he/she it totally shit-canned.

[cape97]

SERIOUSLY THOUGH, they need to star making cars that look MORE appealing...I mean I have the 9G and I love it, but I wish it could've came with like a front lip or if the dealers sell it....there's NO support for our cars...look at the Ralliart Raider...if they could just come a little closer to that truck, they would sell a lot more....look at mazda and honda....mazda is succesful with their cars because they make their cars look "somewhat" fixed up and they have loads of cool exterior accessories you can buy for them...same as honda with their lip kits and cool looking parts; compare like the mudguards I bought for my 9G...reason why i took it off is because it stuck out too much and made my car look like there was something stuck in the back, but you compare it to like the accord's or civic's, it's more low profile.....MITSU NEEDS some new designers....NEW ADMINISTRATION man!!!! it pisses me off to know that Mitsu just don't want to go BOLDER with their products..

[Tech_Greek]

I just think we need more aftermarket for our cars, if I bought a raider it would be for daily driving and towing a drag car, nothing less nothing more.

[4-G-rim]

Owned.

Did Mitsu broke ties with chrysler, like a few years ago? I've seen <span style='font-size:30pt;line-height:100%'>0</span> Raider sightings in Houston and we're pretty big on trucks. Why buy a Mitsu product if a Dodge engine is in it. Own3d X 100

The Dodge Dakota is a based and built on a Mitsubishi designed chassis. Dodge has been using Mitsubishi built/designed chassis back in the days of the Mighty Max (aka "Dodge Ram 50") I guess with all the other import trucks like the Tundra,Tacoma,Titan, etc...Mitsu wanted to offer a truck in their lineup. I have seen maybe a handful of Raiders on the Orlando streets.

[cowboybeebop]

I've seen one around the Bear creek/Katy Area area not too long ago some asian guy was driving it... :?

[Calipso]

I never liked the design of the Raider, though I did hope Mitsubishi could sell a truck.

[manybrews]

The Dodge Dakota is a based and built on a Mitsubishi designed chassis. Dodge has been using Mitsubishi built/designed chassis back in the days of the Mighty Max (aka "Dodge Ram 50") I guess with all the other import trucks like the Tundra,Tacoma,Titan, etc...Mitsu wanted to offer a truck in their lineup. I have seen maybe a handful of Raiders on the Orlando streets.

oh, no... that truck is 100 percent dodge.. there is no mitsu anything in it or about it.

back 15 years ago (pre-dakota days) dodge did of course sell the D50 truck, which was, as you say, a mitsu..
but not since about 89 have they sold one.


the reason mitsu stopped selling THEIR pickup here is this.. ALL import trucks (SUVs dont count for some reason) are subject to a 25 percent import tarriff. So to get past that, all the japanese companies started building their trucks in america. All but mitsu.
so if you had 2 equivalent trucks here, one by toyota and one by mitsu, the mitsu will automatically be 25 percent more. That is a hard sell by anyones numbers.
mitsu still makes pickups for use all over the planet, but just stopped importing them here. hell, they had a 4 door pickup available YEARS before all the domestic companies did.

[GPTourer]

I have heard that tariff is about to expire within the next couple of years, but I don't have any proof. Meanwhile, the new Triton(L200) is about to come out overseas. I think it would have done quite well here, despite its unorthodox styling.

http://www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/newl200/

[manybrews]

yeah, I like their trucks..
heres a photo of it...

[AVERAGE]

I dont quite like the styling of the bed. Maybe if it had a more Titan-esqe look, it wold probably turn more heads possibly sell on these shores.....if it were here :?

[98ACR]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(manybrews)</div><div class='quotemain'>I mean, all of the mechanics knew that a rebadged pickup doesnt sell. Â*NO ONE can sell them. Â*In fact, EVERYONE knows this. </div>

I dissagree on account of the Mazda B series trucks. The re-badged Rangers have always done fairly well, even if they only sell at about half the rate of their blue oval'd brethren. Another one re-badged "truck" that did well was the Honda Passport. I think those actually sold better than the Isuzu branded products, though that's not to say either was a resounding success. Just that they survived for quite a while.

The thing that's killing the Raider is that you can get a Dakota for thousands less (sticker is about the same, but Dodge offers incentives, rebates and the like to drop it down considerably. Mitsu does not)

[manybrews]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(98ACR)</div><div class='quotemain'>
I dissagree on account of the Mazda B series trucks. The re-badged Rangers have always done fairly well, even if they only sell at about half the rate of their blue oval'd brethren. Another one re-badged "truck" that did well was the Honda Passport. I think those actually sold Â*better than the Isuzu branded products, though that's not to say either was a resounding success. Just that they survived for quite a while.
</div>

the rebadged isuzu and ranger sold terribly. much worse than expectations. The honda faired better, 'cause most didnt know it wasn't a honda. besides, the people buying honda trucks are not normal "truck" people, but rather honda people stepping up to a truck. Besides, the passport wasnt a truck anyway, it was a SUV.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
The thing that's killing the Raider is that you can get a Dakota for thousands less (sticker is about the same, but Dodge offers incentives, rebates and the like to drop it down considerably. Mitsu does not)</div>

actually, thats not quite true either. mitsus actually sticker for less, and I garantee a smart shopper can get thousands off that price. Of the two we sold, both were far under sticker price, one about 5 grand!

the two problems with the raider are
1)no one buys rebadged trucks, especially in that particular market (the bigger pickup trucks).
2)absolutly no marketing. no one even knows mitsu has a truck.

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(manybrews)</div><div class='quotemain'>
2)absolutly no marketing. Â*no one even knows mitsu has a truck.</div>

Thats the main culprit of most product failures automotive or not.

[Jeffylou87]

We have the 07 Raider just not in V8. We have to wait a while before they come with the 4.7L. And if you hook up the 9G with the RalliArt molidings, it would look sick because the RalliArt looks sick anyway. Go get the kit from a dealer. The rims are the best part though... The 18" Eclipse GT wheels in diamond black.. AHH!!! so sexy


Jeff

[Jeffylou87]

I've only sold one since I've been here. I've seen about 10 leave here in a year. haha

Jeff

[6G72gearhead]

The comment on dodge engines, you've got to be kidding me, dodge is mostly known for thier engines. Even their inline 6's of the '50s-'60s where damn good motors, I've seen people shoot them with shotguns and they'll still run. The 318 was a good engine, it was very underpowered from the factory and had little support but it can be made into a capable reliable dd engine. The 340 would scream with a 6 pack carb set up and it didnt take much to make them race ready, with a single carb set up they seemed to run out of cubes when pitted against larger engines, but it would hold its own in some forms of racing. Now the 360 was mainly junk but it did hold together and could get the job done. The 383 was used in police cruisers for years and is on the top of the list for reliable, powerful, and cheap. Now we start getting into their high performance engines, the previous engines I've seen all at 400-500hp built but its still tons of power. 392 HEMI was a beast, alot of drag racers ran these until the 426 came out. 413, wow the 413 is a total hoss, with 13.5:1 compression and a cross ram (factory options) it made 485 lb/ft of torque at 1800 rpm, I've never seen a gas engine put down those kinds of torque numbers, especially from the factory, thats admirable for a diesel. The 426 is what most current drag engines are based on, the engine dominated almost all forms of racing, from Nascar, to LSR the only drawback the the 426 was its 800lb weight. The 440 was a decent engine, it was designed as a cheaper option that could compete (kind of) with the Hemi, larger displacement means more power, not as highly tuned but is that totally neccisary when you displace 7.2L, also made a great truck engine.