Mitsubishi Mirage monthly sales, US & Canada, 2013-2023 (projected 7000/yr for U.S.)

[Mark]

3,875 Mirages sold in the last quarter, vs. 3,053 a year ago.

But year over year, sales are down:
13,219 in 2023 vs. 15,816 in 2022.

The company blames tight supply:


https://media.mitsubishicars.com/en-...ith-confidence

U.S. annual 6G Mirage sales...

2013	2,935
2014	16,708
2015	21,515
2016	22,226
2017	22,386
2018	24,316
2019	26,966
2020	19,136
2021	22,741
2022	15,816
2023	13,219
Total	207,964

If you disregard 2013, 2023 is the lowest number of sales in the States. Less than half the sales of 2019.

Given the current lack of competition, that just boggles my mind.

My hypothesis - The current economy is so bad. Basic items are much more expensive these past couple years now. That is taking a toll on lower income Americans, who would be the main consumers of more affordable economy cars.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, adding a new car payment may not be something they can swing. Let's face it, if you shopped around you could have bought a brand new Mirage ES manual for under $10,000 OTD a few years ago. Erik (Mrfixit) bought a yellow one for $10,400 OTD as late as early 2021. Those deals are long gone!

Life has become more expensive. Mirages have become more expensive! That must be trumping the lack of competition. I'm sure there are people out there who would love a new Mirage, but can't afford one (even though it may be one of the cheapest new options out there).

I take no pity on Ford or GM facing hard times. By dropping most of their cars, they have bailed on lower income consumers. Some just want a car, because they don't need a more expensive SUV. To take away that option is lame. I hope they drown in their over-priced pieces of junk.

Chevy Malibu (one remaining model) sales have been climbing, however. 130,342 cars in 2023, but that is still way below the 200,000+ numbers ten years ago.

[7milesout]

Mark - I'm a bit baffled by it myself. I thought it was more a matter of, "if & when they build them, they will sell." Due to the whole covid and microchip fiasco. But now I think, we should have moved past that.

So I don't know. Maybe you have a good point. Prior to Bidenomics a bean burrito from Taco Bell was either $0.99 or $1.29 in some places. Now I don't see them for less than $2.59 'round here. Lower income people buy less expensive things (like bean burritos (me too!)). But everything cheap has rocketed up. "Everything costs a little more" has been transformed into, "everything costs a LOT more."

Maybe it truly is like you say. Cost of living has pushed up so high that even the lowest income people cannot afford a new car payment. Which is a shame, because for a low income person who buys a new Mirage and takes good care of it, likely it would cost them less over a period of 10 years, versus several used cars that need much more frequent repair and replacement, and use more gas. But would certainly be a more trouble-free ownership experience over those 10 years.

It would be so badass if Mitsubishi made a TRUE Poverty trim version. I.E. Come out with a whole new generation of Mirage for 2026, but keep the current version, and rename it the Poverty Version, 1 trim level only with the "old" body version. You and I could be consultants and tell them what all they can cut. We'd probably wind up with a 999 pound Mirage! MSRP - $8,999. They'd never be able to keep up with demand.

[Top_Fuel]

The company blames tight supply:

That has been obvious (at least around here) when you drive by a Mitsubishi dealer and they have maybe 1 or 2 Mirages sitting on the lot...compared to 30 Outlander PHEVs. My local dealer (who sometimes has had no Mirages for more than a month at a time) now has 5-6 in stock.


Here's a flashback from early 2016...

[Fummins]

Here’s a window sticker from what must be a late production 2015 with the fancy pearl white paint.
Attachment 26386

[Mark]

HereÂ’s a window sticker from what must be a late production 2015 with the fancy pearl white paint.
Attachment 26386

I prefer to buy low mileage vehicles that are a few years old, but I couldn't justify buying a used 2014-15 Mirage when the updated 2017 model was priced so low.

Mine was 65.4% of the full window sticker price. Had I qualified for the three $500 rebates (VIP, Loyalty, & Military) at the time, I would have paid 54.8% of the full MSRP window sticker price.

If I had qualified for all the rebates at the time, a brand new 2017 Mirage ES manual would have been about $8,300 OTD ($7,500 + $800 closing costs). These are cars that include A/C, power windows, remote entry power locks, & a radio! I included the radio, because my 1990 Festiva L didn't come with a radio, antenna, speakers, or any of those other things!

6-7 years ago, I could have bought two Mirages for about the price of one today.

[MetroMPG]

Maybe it'd be smart to buy two new ones today.

[Mark]

Maybe it'd be smart to buy two new ones today.

They don't exist today, because I only buy manuals.

Edit - I don't see myself buying another new vehicle in my lifetime.

[MetroMPG]

Mitsu Canada dropped the manual for 2024 also.

Going out with a whimper!

---

They also did not post sales figures in their Q4/2023 year end press release. So I can't update that info. I sent a message to the new PR manager, but haven't heard back yet.

[Mark]

Mitsu Canada dropped the manual for 2024 also.

Going out with a whimper!

---

They also did not post sales figures in their Q4/2023 year end press release. So I can't update that info. I sent a message to the new PR manager, but haven't heard back yet.

On a positive note (putting a positive spin on a negative) - The current new vehicle market doesn't offer anything I like better than what I currently have. I sincerely mean that, too! Life is cheaper when you're content with what you already have.

I may be stuck in the past, however?

I would like to see the 1990-93 Ford Festiva & the 1997-2001 (1st generation) Honda CR-V to return.

In that regard, I hope my Mirage lasts a very long time!

[jebr]

I don't disagree with any of that, but I still believe the stipulation of what services will be provided is quite small. Most dealerships offer one free oil change. If you continue to go there for service, it is to their benefit. Mitsubishi is extending that to 3 oil changes.


It's a far cry from Steve's "Cheap Plastic car" receiving nearly 50 free oil changes, but once again that was dealership driven.

It's not a bad gesture by Mitsubishi. It will surely benefit some new Mitsubishi owners.

I will say at least some dealerships appear to have their own "oil change" promos that stack on top of this. I got an email from White Bear saying I get two free oil changes from them, and as far as I can tell that appears to be separate from the three Mitsubishi offers (since the email said that they're only good at White Bear and they have a different portal.) Given the different effective periods of the free oil changes, I won't get quite as much value as I'd like (since the two free from White Bear appear to need to be done in the first six months, and one of the three from Mitsubishi needs to be done within the first 12,000 miles, so I can't do a clean 5,000/10,000/15,000,) but it's still going to probably save me $200-$400 versus going in on a standard interval. I prefer to have a knowledgeable tech give the car a look-over every 5,000 miles or so anyways, and the extra effort and time to do my own oil changes isn't worth the $25-$50 per oil change in savings to me.

To be fair, I'm probably close to their target demographic (someone that wants a small car, lives in a city, does a lot of simple A-to-B driving,) so the offering being useful to me makes sense.