Canadian Press article about Mirage, last sub $20k new car

[dspace9]

The article points to many complaints about the new car market we all complain about on the forum, namely the ridiculous prices for any new car, the lack of real econo-boxes on sale today, etc. Worth a read.

Interesting statistic they mention, is that besides the fact that the Mirage is the last new car you can get for under $20k, there are like 30+ cars for sale that go for over $100,000... and in 2018, the number of $100k+ club was 1/3 of that.

Honestly, when I see the list price of a Jeep Grand Wagoneer, I think, that's a lot more than my first house cost! And it's not gonna rust out eventually lol.


Looking for a new car under $20,000? Good luck. Your choice has dwindled to just one vehicle

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/tops...671092d95&ei=7

[Top_Fuel]

Wasn't there some cheap Nissan model sold in Canada?

We still have this choice in the US...which is less expensive than a Mirage and it has a manual transmission...




I see that my local newspaper just picked up this story from the AP...which is fake news in the US.






edit - A Kio Rio is also less than $20,000 in the US.

[Mark]

Wasn't there some cheap Nissan model sold in Canada?


Nissan Micra in Canada had a very basic trim level that was under $11,000 I believe.

[Wallythacker]

Wasn't there some cheap Nissan model sold in Canada?


Nissan Micra in Canada had a very basic trim level that was under $11,000 I believe.

Last Micras I recall were about $13k basic build in 2016. I nearly bought one.

[Mark]

Last Micras I recall were about $13k basic build in 2016. I nearly bought one.

I thought the Micra was a pretty nice car, but the mpg rating was not impressive for a small car. One forum member owned both a Mirage & Micra (Nickels I believe).

A Mirage powertrain in a Micra body would have been appealing to me. I had the impression that the Nissan Micra handled much better on the highway.

[Dirk Diggler]

Good luck finding a 5speed Versa on any lots out there. I seem to remember reading that only 500 or so manual 2023 Versas even for sale in NA.

[MetroMPG]

I've seen this story ALL OVER the interwebs in the last couple of weeks. It's been run by major media as well. To Mitsubishi, it's probably worth hundreds of thousands of dollars of free advertising for the Mirage.

Too bad for them they don't seem to have any to sell!

Though in their last quarterly sales report (July 3), the US division said:

...Mirage availability expected to increase in the coming months.

https://media.mitsubishicars.com/en-...-q2-2023-sales

Wasn't there some cheap Nissan model sold in Canada?

Yeah, both the Nissan Micra & Chevy Spark were available for $9999 in Canada in base (no A/C) trim. The Micra was discontinued after 2019 & the Spark a couple of years ago.

We still have this choice [Nissan Versa] in the US...which is less expensive than a Mirage and it has a manual transmission...

edit - A Kio Rio is also less than $20,000 in the US.

True, that's MSRP. But the story reports on average transaction price, not MSRP. The Mirage is the only one coming in under $20k by that metric.

Reflects the fact that the Versa/Rio base trim MSRP is mainly used as a scammy marketing tactic, and dealers don't actually stock them. (Or supply is severely limited.)

[Mark]

Mirage sales were growing each year prior to COVID. I can understand sales dropping in 2020, & that carrying over into 2022. Given the increase in gas prices & lack of small competition, you would think Mirage sales would take off in 2023?

2019 (April/May/June quarter) = 6,659 Mirages sold

2023 (April/May/June quarter) = 1,975 Mirages sold

1,975/6,659 = 29.66% (less than 30%)

You really want to put things into perspective -

2016 (April/May/June quarter) = 6,941 Mirages sold

A 2016 Mirage doesn't even exist, & the leftover 2014-15 Mirages were selling way better than this year's model. 2016 out sold 2015 even though they skipped a year before the 2017 update appeared.

Numbers taken from - https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/mitsub...es-usa-canada/

[mirthmobile]

I work for a Mitsubishi dealer and we've been emailed letting us know that despite the article(s), we're still selling the Mirage for the foreseeable future.

[Mark]

I work for a Mitsubishi dealer and we've been emailed letting us know that despite the article(s), we're still selling the Mirage for the foreseeable future.

Unless something replaces it, I don't see a reason to drop it. Having said that, sales have tanked last time I looked at the numbers. A Mirage has to be priced right to remain attractive to buyers (who may look at used cars as an alternative).

It's either that or we just really hate small, economy cars here. That could be the case, but I can't relate to that thinking.