Outlander

Make
Mitsubishi
Segment
SUV

Mitsubishi may just make it in the US after all (unlike Suzuki). For too long the Japanese automaker didn't have the money to properly update its lineup, which become uncompetitive against rivals. The discontinuation of the Evo also didn't bring good publicity. Despite the hardships, Mitsubishi is managing to pull through. It's been taking advantage of a strong US sales market to rebuild itself. For example, Mitsubishi's VP of North America just announced that sales increased by 25% in 2014.

This year alone, so far, has seen a 33% increase compared to last year at this time. "We're profitable and our dealers are profitable," the executive declared. The redesigned Outlander, for example, will debut in New York in a couple of months and over the next 16 months we'll see a new Outlander Sport, Mirage, and Lancer. Mitsubishi's bottom line here is that it simply can't afford for any of its new models to fail. The marketing budget is also tight and its dealers will "have to do more with less." Many claim a new Evo would do the trick to boost sales and popularity but, again, Mitsubishi can't afford to build such a niche model at this time.