The future of Mitsubishi in the U.S.?

[Daddy Butter]

It's obvious that Mitsubishi has been on the decline over the past few years. XDCX raised the issues in the previous thread from 2010, "Does Mitsubishi have a future in the U.S.?". I'd like to revisit this question and hopefully get some insight from Mitsubishi dealers' take on the whole issue.

This past December the President of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. discussed the company's short-to-mid-term strategy over the next few years, indicating a shift towards promoting the Outlander and Outlander Sport more heavily and introducing the Mirage to the U.S. market following the discontinuation of the Galant, Spyder, Endeavor and Eclipse this past year.

At the same time, Mitsubishi North America is asking HQ to double its marketing budget, which was considered low to begin with, for the upcoming fiscal year beginning April 1.

Just from my limited perspective on this, my take-aways and questions are:

1. Is it reasonable to assume that the franchise will be able to grow based on a couple crossover models?

2. The marketing issue must be addressed. When was the last time you saw a Mitsubishi commercial?

3. How much control do dealers have in this, and what steps can they take?