Mitsu planning to end Galant Production in USA.

[RedGalant2k1]

Simple.....no market here in the U.S. during the 7g and 8g generations.

MMCNA decided to bring the 6g GVR4 here in the states is because at the time the 6g had a awsome reputation since it won the North America Import Car of the Year award beating the Accord the Camry. Galant sales were high and Galant GSX's ( n/a 4G63 AWD) were selling very quickly. So...in addition to the new performance oriented Eclipse and 3000GT..Mitsu decided to bring a limited amount of Galant VR4's to sell here in the U.S to take advantage of the hot Galant GSX sales and improve their "Performance brand" persona.

Well...Mitsu realized that its a tough market to sell a $30k Mitsu Sedan where you could spend that type of money into a BMW, Mercedes, etc etc. Eventually in 92 they only decided to bring over a 1000 and eventually 93 not to bring over any GVR4's to the states.

Simply during the mid 90's and early 2000's...there wasn't a market for "high performance" sedans in the U.S. The BOOM were SUV's here in the U.S. and Sedans were marketed as reliable and value. This is why we never saw early generation of Evos, WRX's, Skylines, FTO's, etc etc. Japanese car makers here in the U.S. were already having a hard enough time selling their flagship vehicles in their lineup which eventually came their end in the late 90's like the Supra, 3000GT, RX7, 300ZX, etc etc

It wasn't that there wasn't a market for fast sedans (Grand Prix GTP, Bonneville GTP both supercharged). The Ford Taurus SHO was fast albeit rather boring. The Buick Regal GS (and the GS Joseph Abboud Edition) were quite fast. The real problem with the speedy little Japanese cars and the big bad skyline was emissions and mostly crash protections.

The sole reason for the changes in the exterior and interior of the USDM Galant versus the JDM Galant is crash standards. The US required higher standards, that resulted in a redesigned larger crash bar, requiring a new radiator core support, new headlights, new bumper. The interior required subtle upgrades also, which necessitated a redesigned interior.

The engines (especially the GDI) if memory serves were quite poor emissions vehicles, and they couldn't pass muster to be put in 8Gs. There is a reason the chassis code is even different.

[boondocks95]

No offense to those that have modded clean 9G's, stock, they look horrible.

yes they do and again no offense

[boondocks95]

well i bet they could boost their sales if they would just give us 2 turbos and awd.

and maybe idk sounds crazy but add they vr4 to the name, nvm that was a stupid idea

[galantebeige]

Build the 8G again, I just love the way my car looks. Just change the insides, with better and more efficient engines, etc

[03-Galant-ES]

If you look at a vast majority of G owners they are middle aged family oriented people, but then the others are younger guys like us who are still family oriented...some of us at least... but we want a sharp car that goes pretty well. One of their problems is the 9G is ugly sorry 9G owners but its like a 40 year old woman the same age as the Galant name. The galants have been getting bigger and bigger and peaked in the 8G looks as many agree then down hill as her ass got bigger and wings and tits hung lower. They need to give the G some botox, some lipo and bring her back to her former glory.

Even keeping the engine though the RA engine in an 8G or 7G type body would be amazing. Even if they dont being back the turbo make the 2.4 a mivec and give an optional 6spd manual with 6spd auto as standard.

They don't need to give an ugly car a face lift they need to go back to basics and bring it back. Once again 9G owners but it's true.

[03-Galant-ES]

Ive decided my solution is once I own my own house instead of worrying about new cars stock piling on older Gs

2 vr4s 3 7gs and 4 more 8gs is my plan :-p My fiancee said i can get a heated garage with my own lift to keep me busy

[charris]

They should replace it with the concept ZT. They managed to give it back some nice aggressive lines, and the interior is like a space ship.

The RA and X/sportback concepts are pretty sexy, too.

[hk20000]

The engines (especially the GDI) if memory serves were quite poor emissions vehicles, and they couldn't pass muster to be put in 8Gs. There is a reason the chassis code is even different.

Mostly because you have Mcpherson Struts when the 8Gs in the rest of the world were using double wishbones?

Another thing, 8G is not a synonym to GDI, and GDI is not a synonym to bad emission.

8G came in V6 models, in Singapore and Hong Kong there was a funny grade called the VR-M which sported the 6A12 MIVEC exactly the same as the one found in FTO. That would make a 200HP sports sedan out of the box with no impact to reliability or emission.

Ah actually, another thing you should remember about the E39A's demise in 1993. In 1993 the Japanese plant is making my VR4 :P

It'd be stupid to tell them to stop making the v6tt VR4 and make a bunch of E39A VR4 just for the last year hooray in US market. When my VR4 was dropped from the US lineup that's that.

in fact 7G also had a grade called VR-X which was also 200HP to the front wheels.

If those models came to the US It'd sell like hot cake. Just like how those models above sold like hot cake in Asia. Think about it, introduce a 200HP FWD sports sedan to USA in 1994.... It would have blown the Camry and Accord out of the water. Mitsu would be such hot item they wouldn't be what they are like today:D

Also I almost forgot - you know why they didn't make the VR4 for 1993? It's because the Japanese factory was busy making my version V6TT VR4 - manufactured Feburary 1993 I think that's the biggest reason the VR4 stopped coming to the States.

[Johnathansgalant]

the 9gs were alright -- the 10g thats out now is very ugly.. i have seen two on the street.. the 10gs are not selling very well and probably will be scrapped fast..

[Koncept]

Maybe if they didn't make it so fat, ugly and slow people would actually want one...

*shrugs*

Honestly, if I could get an 8G VR-4 legally in America without having to go through all the hassle and mods, I would. If they considered making something more like this, more people might be interested.

[Gbaby2089]

they tried to make it too mainstream when it was kinda small and sporty (8G) it sold well then came the ewww, bloated thing (9G) and sales went down

[panda]

Think about it, introduce a 200HP FWD sports sedan to USA in 1994.... It would have blown the Camry and Accord out of the water. Mitsu would be such hot item they wouldn't be what they are like today:D

doubt it.. cause mitsu isnt the only company that down grades when they come to the united states..


compare a us 6th gen civic to a jdm 6th gen civic lol.. they was sporting touch screen indash gps,cd,radio,phone,ect,b18gsr motors stock with alot more options while we in the us was sitting there with a tape deck and goofy ass cloth seats riding around with a d16y8 lol..


i agree the united states would be cooler not to mention all around better if they would have brung the asian markets power houses over but hey.. we are Americans.. half the population still thinks a 4 cylinder cant produce over 110hp lol.. and if it does get any kind of power the gas mileage would suck.

10 years ago if you would have asked any american what asian company would produce a 4x4 truck that would out perform chevy,dodge, or ford. i doubt you would even get a answer.

just my 2 cents.

[Rayth]

aww no love

[RedGalant2k1]

10 years ago if you would have asked any american what asian company would produce a 4x4 truck that would out perform chevy,dodge, or ford. i doubt you would even get a answer.

just my 2 cents.

Aside from the cars there still isn't a Japanese Truck that can outperform an American one.

[03-Galant-ES]

i agree the united states would be cooler not to mention all around better if they would have brung the asian markets power houses over but hey.. we are Americans.. half the population still thinks a 4 cylinder cant produce over 110hp lol.. and if it does get any kind of power the gas mileage would suck.

just my 2 cents.

What I really hate about our car market is Euro Spec cars have always been like 1.6L that can go about as fast as our 2.4s and they get like 40+mph I love the Gs though there is so much potential and they are pretty comfy

[panda]

Aside from the cars there still isn't a Japanese Truck that can outperform an American one.

lol.. nissan titan/toyota tundra and i think toyota helix is just a few.. all will smash on a american truck in all values..

dont get me wrong i love some chevy.. but you gotta give credit where its due..

[cg1349]

I wonder why Mitsubishi didn't put the same turbo charger from an Evolution, into a Galant. The Galant has a loyal fan base, and I'm sure a Galant Turbo model would have been welcomed.

[Rayth]

I wonder why Mitsubishi didn't put the same turbo charger from an Evolution, into a Galant. The Galant has a loyal fan base, and I'm sure a Galant Turbo model would have been welcomed.

the same reason they didnt keep the eclipse AWD turbo.. because theyre dumb

[G-spot]

Thay had a reason behind it to boost sales for the evo but overall it was a very stupid move...


...along the line of how Honda never released a Civic Type R to the states but eager to bust out an Si and boast sale over it as if there are no "loyal fans" to the CTR....

[4-G-rim]

I wonder why Mitsubishi didn't put the same turbo charger from an Evolution, into a Galant. The Galant has a loyal fan base, and I'm sure a Galant Turbo model would have been welcomed.

Though it seems that Galants have a loyal fan base...but Galant owners like us are a tiny percentage in unit sold. I know that the TGC world seems big..but we are a mere pixel in a HD tv.

Sales is what drove MMC especially MMCNA not to produce certain "special" models. Though the 1g and 2g Eclipse/talon/lasers sold pretty well ..the turbo models only accounted for a very small percentage of total units sold. Most T/E/L sold were nonturbo models..I believe FWD Turbo models accounted around 8% and AWD turbo models accounted under 1%...actualy not even.

Selling a $25+k midsize Galant in the very competitive midsize market was a risk for mitsu considering the cost of production and other factors when Mitsu at the time was going through corperate crisis and medicore reputation in the public.

Mitsubishi of North America wasn't even considering to bring over the Evo to the U.S. till Subaru took a chance to bring the WRX into the states and Mitsu saw how well they were selling and the potential of that market.

Luckily...Mitsubishi cross platform approach makes it possibly to do swaps and makes it even more of a special car to drive.