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Poor MMC 2004 Auto Sales in USA
Mitsubishi Cars Problems in USA
Mitsubishi Motors North America News
March 8, 2005. New York and Cypress, CA. Mitsubishi Motors North America has awarded creative duties on its $200 million ad account to Omnicom' Group's BBDO, Adweeks's Gregory Solman and Kathleen Sampey reported.
Finalists that included Interpublic Group's TM Advertising in Irving, Texas, Publicis Groupe agencies Publicis and Hal Riney in San Francisco and Publicis in Seattle, had made presentations involving the launch of 2006 Eclipse.
July 26, 2004. Reports suggest that Diamante sedan and Montero Sport SUV won't be offered for next model year, and Montero SUV will be shelved a year later. According to a compnay source Mitsubishi does not have money to upgrade Montero to meet new safety and emission standards. mitsubishisucks.com feels that low sales volume might be a big factor too. None of these are made in Normal, Illinois.
Moreover, new engine plans for Galant and Outlander - to be supplied by Hyundai and Chrysler, have been cancelled.
June 28, 2004. Los Angeles. LA Times reported that Finbarr O'Neill, CEO of the Cypress-based North American operation, is considering reductions of the already thin advertising budget and layoffs of corporate staff. The company employs 1,100 in the U.S., 850 of them in Orange County. O'Neill said that when he left Hyundai Motor America to join Mitsubishi, he was aware of the problems but didn't know much about the entent of problems at the parent company, and calls its depth to be "surprising."
O'Neill was recruited to replace Pierre Gagnon who many blame for putting MMC North America in such financial peril. Anyway, rumors are that executives have their resumes out.
June 26, 2004. LOS ANGELES. Adweek reported that Diane Hong has been named director of advertising for Mitsubishi Motors, replacing Paul Mareski. Hong will report to Ian Beavis, senior vice president of product planning. Beavis had told Adweek that the company would also shift money out of network TV, triple its print ad budget to $60 million and do more spot TV.
It is rumored that Interpublic Group's Deutsch/LA in Marina del Rey, Calif., which handles the Mitsubishi account of about $300 million a year will move on.