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seventh Japanese car, Mitsubishi, beeps for sales in the United States.
A new kid on the block joins les six Japanese car manufacturers are already selling cars in the United States, such as twisting arms of the US auto industry battered for further curbs on the Japanese.
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc. MMSA sells a high-end line of cars under its own flag - that is, outside the Chrysler Corporation - a sports sedan 2-door, 2 fastback doors, 4 door family sedan, and two types of light trucks, one with a turbo-diesel engine 2 to 3 liters.
Ultimately, AMSE will expand its marketing area nationwide, although its original scope is in 22 major metropolitan areas on the East and West coasts, Florida and the Midwest and Southwest.
As for the Japanese voluntary trade agreement, now halfway to its second year, Japanese shipments to the United States are limited to 1,680,000 cars a year light trucks are not part of it, although mini-sized trucks carry an import duty of 25 percent The pact expires next March 31.
domestic automakers not only want to see the pact extended for a third year, but demand that will set an even lower limit due to continued weak car sales in the United States.
The origin point behind the voluntary agreement - a voluntary but it happened because of strong pressure on Japanese automakers - was to provide a breathing space of several years for US manufacturers so they can improve their competitiveness vis -a-vis Japan However, the inflexible downturn in car sales plunged American industry in a worse position than it was when the Japanese launched the pavement there is more than 18 months.
Too, while the original intention was to limit sales of Japanese cars to about 17 percent of the total car market in the United States, the poor performance of domestic brands has, indeed, given Japanese automakers an average attendance 30 percent in the US market.
Without voluntary sidewalk, some observers say that the Japanese could hunt with up to 40 percent of the US market.
Meanwhile, the name is well known, that is sure, after all, the Chrysler Corporation sells Mitsubishi cars for over 10 years - Dodge Colt Plymouth Champ although it is called the Plymouth Colt 83, and others .
The problem was that Chrysler brought the smaller Mitsubishi cars at lower prices in order not to sales sap its own car nameplate Furthermore, while Japanese competitors - Toyota, Nissan Datsun, Honda, etc. - had found a gold mine in the US, Mitsubishi was locked outside the door.
Originally, of course, it was a good deal for the company, but only at the beginning in fact, it was a cheap, fast way for Mitsubishi to break into the largest car market in the world - and he got money in the market at the time Chrysler has purchased a 15 percent in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan MMC.
But the Japanese company began to squirm Also, Chrysler was running into huge problems of its own, and in recent years has come close to belly up sales of Mitsubishi cars fell with the fortunes US automaker.
Bringing his annoyance into the opening in 1978, the president of MMC, Tomio Kubo told a group of American journalists visiting the car in Tokyo that the Japanese company plans to set up its own organization of dealers in the United States and bring more cars.
In the US there are a few weeks the president of MMC continued to attack what he called the performance of Chrysler Corporation in the treatment of MMC cars.
A new agreement means that marketing bitterly Mitsubishi continue to provide Chrysler with cars until 1990, but also market its own more cars online.
Mitsubishi, in fact, exports to finance Chrysler until 1985, a great help to the US automaker, and give him additional lines of MMC products over the years.
Although none of the cars sold by AMSE will be found among Chrysler-Plymouth or Dodge dealers, the US automaker is not out of the woods, not by a long shot Mitsubishi cars, besides competing with the rest of the Japanese car industry, also fight tooth and nail against Chrysler K-car and the old Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon Finally, if allowed to increase its allocation, the AMSE cars could cause problems for the US automaker long trouble.
However, it could be a great help to Chrysler and Mitsubishi and Chrysler continue to collaborate on future car projects, which could at some point lead to a car in the US After all, General Motors product jointly talks with Toyota on a car built jointly at a GM assembly plant on the west coast GM also owns part of both Isuzu and Suzuki, while Ford has a considerable piece of Toyo Kogyo, maker of the Mazda.
American Motors and the automaker belonging to the French Government, National Board of Renault factories are now building a car, the Alliance, the AMC manufacturing complex in Kenosha, Wis.
It cost 21 million Mitsubishi to set up its US subsidiary - 14 by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Tokyo, and 7 million Mitsubishi Corporation itself, the head of the empire and Mitsubishi have about four times the size of General Motors .
Currently, there are about 70 Mitsubishi showrooms of new cars in the US, but eventually the company plans to increase that total to about 400 Much depends on whether the US Congress clamps curbs on Japanese requiring the local workforce and content parts in cars sold in the United States the United Automobile workers of America is demanding that Congress pass such a law.
Mitsubishi sells three cars and a truck under its own label.
Starion The 2-door high performance sports car tailgate, using a 4 -cylinder, 2 turbo 6-liter, will compete in the same market niche imports as Datsun 280ZX and Toyota Celica Supra.
Cordia A 1 8 liters overhead cam engine powers the two-carrier-wheel front drive fastback and will compete with the Toyota Celica, Datsun 200SX, Honda Prelude and VW Scirocco.
Tredia A spacious subcompact, 4 door, drive sedan will be front after Honda and Nissan Stanza Agreement.
Both trucks 2WD and 4WD trucks use a turbodiesel engine 2 to 3 liters, a first for the United States also offer trucks 2 and 2 liters of gasoline engines 6 liters.
We believe that our product is fair and meets the needs of many American consumers, says Richard D Recchia, operations manager for AMSE.
During his first year in the US, it hopes to sell 30,000 passenger cars and 10 000 to 12 000 trucks in the first year s allocation of cars is controlled by the voluntary agreement in 1981 by Japanese automakers to limit their exports cars in the United States and that the number of MMC cars that Chrysler has been selling in the US.
seventh Japanese car Mitsubishi beeps for sales in the US, seventh, Japan, Mitsubishi, beeps.
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