Overview & Reviews

Mitsubishi has built its brand in the United States with a selection of cars and SUVs that tend to offer above-average performance and style. The parent company has its roots in producing commercial vehicles for its home market of Japan.

A Japanese word meaning "three diamonds," Mitsubishi was founded in by Yataro Iwasaki, a descendant of samurais, in the early 1870s. The company's initial focus was on shipping, but it quickly diversified into areas such as mining and ship repair. In 1917, Mitsubishi unveiled the Model A, Japan's first series production passenger car.

It wasn't until 1960, with the launch of the compact Mitsubishi 500, that the company began producing passenger vehicles on a large scale. That decade also saw the launch of other Mitsubishi light passenger vehicles like the 360 Van and 360 Pickup. The company also distinguished itself on the racetrack during this decade, taking top honors in Japan's Grand Prix.

Mitsubishi's automobile production arm was officially spun off into a company of its own with the establishment of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in 1970. The company's Colt made its way to American shores in 1971, the same year in which Chrysler purchased a 15 percent stake in the new company. However, the Colt wasn't sold under the Mitsubishi name, but rather under the Dodge brand, reflecting Chrysler's interest in the company. By the end of the decade, Mitsubishi was producing more than 1 million cars per year.

In 1982, Mitsubishi began selling cars in the U.S. under its own name. Through the '80s it offered a variety of cars for the states, including the subcompact Mirage, turbocharged Starion sports car and midsize Galant sedan. Mitsubishi hit its stride in the '90s, thanks to the popularity of the Eclipse sport coupe and 3000GT sports car in the U.S. and the turbocharged Lancer Evolution in other parts of the world.

Chrysler made the most of its partnership, as it used Mitsubishi platforms under many of its models. The Eclipse, in particular, was a key vehicle produced by the Diamond Star Motors partnership. In 1998, Chrysler merged with Daimler-Benz to become DaimlerChrysler. Mitsubishi's partnership continued with DaimlerChrysler for a few years but was financially terminated by 2003.

The new millennium has been a struggle for Mitsubishi. Its vehicles have grown stale with consumers and sales have wavered. At one point the company was forced to admit that it had systematically covered up vehicle defects in Japan. On the upside, though, the company's compact, high-performance sedan, the Lancer Evolution, has been a continuing success in the United States. Going forward, Mitsubishi plans to revitalize its brand by developing environmentally friendly vehicles (such as its all-electric "i" hatchback) that are still fun to drive.

User Reviews:

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  Nice! - 1997 Mitsubishi Montero Sport
  By Mrjb - March 15 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car used (35k miles) Drove it for 5 years without any mentionable problems. Spak pluk wire came loose once & electric antanna has an additude. Thought i wanted to trade it for a new car once paid off but couldnt part with my baby. After 132,000 i finally have to. The transmission is starting to go, which i guess is a bad defect, but to me the time to get a more fuel efficient sedan. (still, 17-20 mpg is not bad fro suv) The ride is great. 63" with back problems and i can drive it for 9 hrs straight!

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  It gets you were you want to go - 1998 Mitsubishi Mirage
  By t2c4u - March 13 - 10:00 am

  Its not the flashies, fastest, or funest, but it gets you were you want to go very cheeply. Im getting 40mpg with the standard. And its pretty confortable to drive. Great first time car.

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  Cool & Reliable, but a bit rough. - 2000 Mitsubishi Montero
  By MontyDriver - March 13 - 10:00 am

  This is my fourth car, I used to own a Mountaineer. See comments below. All in all Id recommend it to anyone who wont get hung up on the interior shortcomings or worse-than-average handling. (Or if you want to win an off- road rally.)

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  Update-2-22-06 - 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback
  By Ajl - March 11 - 5:53 pm

  In my first review of the car (after just purchasing it) I said I was concerned with reliability. After 30,000 miles in 6 months, my fears have been unfounded so far. I have only made one trip back to the dealer for a minor problem. Its fuel mileage is OK, as mentioned the real culprit is the small fuel tank. I get about 25-27 mpg in the mix of driving I do (usually about 40% city / 60% highway). Paint is irritatingly cheap tough. My car already has lots of swirls and scratches and I generally dont use automatic car washes. As was also mentioned, road noise on the highway above 65 mph in this car is obnoxious. The seats are OK, but were never designed to spend hours in everyday. It does seem to run better on high octane fuel.

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  LOVE IT - 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor
  By ElleCristine - March 8 - 2:00 am

  Im enjoying my purchase. This drives like a car, handles well and is unique on the road of the usual SUVs. Its roomy inside and has side airbags and the DVD keeps the kids quiet on long drives. CD system is great. I truly recommend you test drive this one. Was NOT overly impressed with the dealership after purchase.

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  Great, but beware the Paint - 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander
  By matterie - March 6 - 6:45 pm

  Had this car for about 5 years now. Overall, we have been very pleased with it except for one issue: the paint. The clear coat appears does not appear to be of quality resulting in a car that scratches easy and a result, looks pretty awful after a short period of ownership. The built-in media center was cool at first, but is a bit annoying with expensive map updates and the inability to load MP3s on the hard drive. It will only load from original music CDs (or WAV files). Minus the paint, reliability has been very good.

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  Unexceptional, but thats a good thing - 2006 Mitsubishi Outlander
  By Mawingo - March 4 - 12:26 pm

  This is an after the fact review, as I just traded this one in. This car did nothing well, but nothing bad. It was just sort of there and didnt leave a bad taste. Its comfortable (the seats are very firm), got decent mileage, and didnt require a lot of non-routine maint; just oil changes, tires, brakes, and an AC recharge (common to this model). Its a little short on power, but proved to be reliable. The interior wore well.

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  Look at other options - 2001 Mitsubishi Montero
  By treyfoxx - March 4 - 10:00 am

  When I first saw the 2001 Montero I loved the look. The new curves and the molding were very surprising. The interior was very nice as I expected. After driving it, I fell in love with the nice ride. It was also fun to have people take a double look at the SUV when they saw it riding down the road. After years of driving it, I must say that I still like it. Unfortunately, my liking to drive it is overshadowed by frequent visits to the dealer for repairs. With 60,000 miles, this vehicle has had two brakes jobs, five radios, and ten sets of headlights, just to name a few. Anyway, my point is, of the vehicles I have owned, this one is the most expensive to own.

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  Good Choice, But Look for Alignment - 2004 Mitsubishi Outlander
  By Althai - March 4 - 10:00 am

  I purchased this new car over three weeks, I like it. It good for the valve. However, my car only has 500 mile, and it starts pulling to the right.

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  Short Honeymoon - 2004 Mitsubishi Galant
  By Joseph - March 4 - 10:00 am

  Aside from price, I looked at getting good gas mileage in the city. Todate, that milage is about 35% less than what was qouted. The service manager told me the car needed to be broken in before I would see better gas mileage numbers, however, he also said that my city driving would only yield about 18 MPG instead of the 23 MPG as adversited; with the explaination, that the 23 MPG qouted was an estimate. So far Im getting a little less that 15 MPG, in my opinion, a far cry from the qouted numbers.