Report: Mitsubishi still mulling selling Mirage in U.S.

Filed under: Budget, Japan, Hatchback, Mitsubishi

Let's be honest: The current Mitsubishi lineup here in the United States is mediocre at best. More to the point, its small car offerings like the aging Lancer and miserable i-MiEV are some of the slowest-selling cars in two of the most highly shopped segments. And with no replacements or updates for either in sight, things indeed look bleak.

But that doesn't mean new Mitsu metal won't be hitting our shores. Automotive News reports that the Japanese automaker is once again mulling bringing its new Mirage small car to the U.S., especially in light of its lofty goal of producing 500,000 examples of the small car around the world next year.

The Mirage indeed has attributes that would make it attractive to U.S. small car buyers. For starters, its 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine and continuously variable transmission work together to achieve the equivalent of 64 miles per gallon. And with its low price of ¥998,000 - about $12,550 based on current exchange rates - it could easily slot into the super-small car segment now occupied by the Scion iQ and Chevrolet Spark.

If the Mirage does get the green light for U.S. sales, it's hard to say exactly how quickly the cars will make their way Stateside. In speaking to Automotive News, Mitsubishi's president, Osamu Masuko, only said that, "We have to make a decision soon."

Mitsubishi still mulling selling Mirage in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Should GM and Ford give up on selling cars in Europe?

Filed under: Europe, Ford, GM, UK

The economic turmoil, lack of consumer confidence and howls for "More austerity!" in Europe have delivered a UFC-like beating to every automaker's books. And with some analysts still wondering if the current euro zone will even survive, it is obvious that it won't be over soon. But is that a reason for both General Motors and Ford to stop doing business on the continent, as Automotive News Editor-in-Chief for Europe Luca Ciferri has written?

The quick summary of Ciferri's reasons for suggesting GM and Ford pull out is that "Europe is the biggest trouble spot in GM's and Ford's global empires and could prevent both from sustaining their current success." Both are losing money there, are likely to lose money for a while, and have other profitable ventures they could focus on in China and a resurgent U.S. - and at least one analyst agrees with the suggestion.

Spefically, GM, via its Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary, has lost more than $15 billion in Europe over the past 13 years, $747 million of it in 2011 alone. Opel's current state remains so dire that GM CEO Dan Akerson calls it a "four-alarm fire" and there's another comprehensive restructuring being presented this week, following last year's comprehensive restructuring that was meant to fix the same issues. A commentary in Ward's Auto posits that perhaps short-lived GM CEO Fritz Henderson was right to want to get rid of Opel and is owed an apology. The best that GM can say about the position in Europe right now is that "it appears to be bottoming out," but Greece returning to the drachma or another large dose of pain in Spain could put the lie to that assessment. For Ciferri, the drag right now on profitable earnings elsewhere and the murky future might not be worth the trouble.

Ciferri's case for a Ford exit seems a little pressed, even though the company is estimating a half-billion dollar loss in Europe this year. Growth and margins are on the downswing, Volkswagen rules the roost and that isn't likely to change soon, and the Blue Oval owns a factory in Romania that is producing the upcoming B-Max, but because it was bought when markets were humming it is now adding to Ford's European overcapacity. Nevertheless, every automaker is dealing with losses, negative growth and slim margins, Ford has been profitable there six of the past eight years, is still number two in Europe and builds some of the most popular cars on The Continent. GM is determined to weather the storm, but in Ford's case it seems more like it would be foolish not to.

On top of all of that, having two major industrial concerns - both are in the top five in sales - tell already hard-put European governments, workers and buyers, "We're going home now, call us when things get better. Good luck," would practically ensure neither GM nor Ford would earn another euro until everyone involved was making cars in heaven.

Should GM and Ford give up on selling cars in Europe? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google starts selling accessories for HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus on Google Play, has you all docked up

If you liked the idea of buying an unlocked Galaxy Nexus straight from Google but were put off by the absence of the official accessories, have no fear. A swing by Google Play now gives US shoppers the chance to buy the regular Desktop Dock, the HDMI Portrait Dock or the Vehicle Dock, whether it's packed in with your Android 4.0 flagship or after the fact. All three require the HSPA+ edition -- sorry, no attempts to shoehorn the Verizon model here -- and cost between $49 to $54. The accessories reinforce the notion that Google is a little more in it to win it than the last time it sold hardware directly, although we have yet to see whether or not the store section will carry any hardware that isn't fully blessed by Google as part of the Nexus ecosystem.

Google starts selling accessories for HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus on Google Play, has you all docked up originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 19:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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