A new article on the new 380 SII by carpoint. (http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/car-review/1719293.aspx) Take note that the new prices come in effect from today the 28th of April.

Another good factor is that he is looking to add new Mitsubishi dealers to Melbourne and Sydney (5 in each city) as these are the two states which Mitsubishi's market share is lower in comparison with other states (and these two states take up a bulk of Australia's population, so this is a very wise decision).

It also states that even if Mitsubishi Australia are to build between 15,000 - 20,000 380's for this financial year at the new RRP prices "its Japanese parent company MMC are prepared for the long haul and "get a corporate acceptable return on investment".

So if MMAL are making profit by only making around 75 cars a day they should have a positive year (ie. profits) for the financial year of 2006. Considering I think they will end up selling around (or more) 380's by the end of June this sales target should be surpassed and more profit obtained. And the more profit they make means the higher chance of MMAL staying open and the higher chance of more features:D , engines :badgrin: , design changes and possibly models added to the 380 range.

****AND: IF MMAL DO MAKE A PROFIT OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS THEN WHY WOULD MMC CLOSE MMAL DOWN?**** :nuts:

also what happened to the plan to sell some 380's in malaysia badged as protons? If they can pull that little deal off that will ease considerable pressure on MMAL's sales requirements

also what happened to the plan to sell some 380's in malaysia badged as protons? If they can pull that little deal off that will ease considerable pressure on MMAL's sales requirements

Sh*t... I must of been stupid when I posted this. I was meant to link the article to the original post... my boo. Here is the link anyhow and they don't mention the Proton 380 thingy here. It does talk about what I wrote originally though.

Article (http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/car-review/1719293.aspx)

And about the 380's been badged as protons for malaysia I think that is still on the cards. It mentions it in the Wheels article I uploaded yesterday in another 380 topic. From what I hear Mitsubishi are currently sourcing a 4 cylinde engine for the Maylaysia so which will be more suited for Malaysia and the Proton brand. Hopefully, Mitsubishi look at offering the 4 cylinder version of the 380 (which will be re-named according to it's engine capacity; most likely the 240) to Australian buyers at the same time as it would give MMAL a greater return on their investment on importing the 4 cylinder engine if they were to install it here as they would be selling them locally as well.

I don't think there's any danger of MMC closing down MMAL. Rather it's MMAL shutting down local manufacturing operations.
Sadly, I think car manufacturing in this country is doomed. Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually.
380 is struggling, and Falcodore sales have also dropped considerably. If MMAL were to shut down Tonsley Park, the rest of the industry is going to suffer as well.

I don't think there's any danger of MMC closing down MMAL. Rather it's MMAL shutting down local manufacturing operations.
Sadly, I think car manufacturing in this country is doomed. Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually.
380 is struggling, and Falcodore sales have also dropped considerably. If MMAL were to shut down Tonsley Park, the rest of the industry is going to suffer as well.

If MMAL can build a car that costs less then other V6's then smart people who may be looking to update their car could say well hey the 380 is like $5 - $6k then the current Commodore considering fuel is sooo expensive at the moment I could use that extra cash to spend on fuel. If Mitsubishi point this out initially they will score alot more sales. I'll be very interested to see their 'NEW' marketing campaign based on the SII 380 as this will be a major factor on sales as the last marketing campaign was a waste of dosh.

At the same time if Mitsubishi can build cars that consume less fuel in Australia, along with the other three car manufactures in Australia I don't think they'll have a problem surviving. This car with which consumes less fuel could be a 4 cylinder option, a diesel option or a different car altogether (ie. they MMAL could build the next-gen Lancer in AUS or the RHD Eclipse with their excess capacity). And Holden could build the Astra along with the Commodore and Ford can do something about their shotty small-mid sized car (as in looks and MARKETING...the focus isn't a bad car... it just needs some decent exposure to sell well!).

also what happened to the plan to sell some 380's in malaysia badged as protons? If they can pull that little deal off that will ease considerable pressure on MMAL's sales requirements
MMAL's plan to sell 380's in Malaysia is gaining momentum. They've sent a black LX and silver GT over there to test public reaction etc. But because it will be a low-volume seller (Camry is like the biggest mainstream car over there) I'm not sure it's enough as far as 380's export potential goes.

Additionally if 380 were sold over there it would be priced in the same bracket as a BMW 3-Series, so it's gonna have a fight on it's hands. There is though a plan to include a 2.4l MIVEC which at the moment is near a certainty for Malaysia. That means a potential 4-pot for us here.:)

Additionally if 380 were sold over there it would be priced in the same bracket as a BMW 3-Series, so it's gonna have a fight on it's hands. There is though a plan to include a 2.4l MIVEC which at the moment is near a certainty for Malaysia. That means a potential 4-pot for us here.

I wouldn't be too scared by the 3-Series as it's build quality isn't the best (made in South Africa). In terms of active and passive safety systems the 3-series excels and unfortunately the 380 only has 4 airbags and TCL in comparison. Because tarriffs are so high to import cars with large engines to Malaysia the 4-cyl variant of the 380 is very likely. At the same time the pricing of the 380 sold over there would change and they could offer the 4-cyl engine here. If they really want to export the V6 as well they should atleast look to add some safety features to it (which are most likely going to be added when the 380 receives the engine upgrade [late '06/most likely early '07], such as curtain airbags (which can fit in the 380-even with s/roof) and hopefully ESP and BA they'd have a vehicle that would atleast be similar in terms of safety features with the 3-Series if that was the model it was going to be sold against.

re: new dealerships

That's great news, but unfortunately not going to impact on '06 380 sales.

Sydney-centric comments: Mitsubishi dealerships north of the bridge is a complete joke, and probably has a lot to do with lower than expected sales. Why would anyone buy anything from Northshore Mitsubishi, which quite frankly looks like a car wrecking yard?

More 380s on the road spurns more sales. Call me a yuppie or whatever, but Sydney's north shore, with generally higher income levels than western areas, significantly helps set trends for the rest of the city. What I'm trying to say is that the perceived lack of 'quality' dealers north of the bridge certainly hasn't helped 380 sales. It's good that MMAL seem to be doing something about it.

re: new dealerships

That's great news, but unfortunately not going to impact on '06 380 sales.

Sydney-centric comments: Mitsubishi dealerships north of the bridge is a complete joke, and probably has a lot to do with lower than expected sales. Why would anyone buy anything from Northshore Mitsubishi, which quite frankly looks like a car wrecking yard?

More 380s on the road spurns more sales. Call me a yuppie or whatever, but Sydney's north shore, with generally higher income levels than western areas, significantly helps set trends for the rest of the city. What I'm trying to say is that the perceived lack of 'quality' dealers north of the bridge certainly hasn't helped 380 sales. It's good that MMAL seem to be doing something about it.

Oh I think I know what you mean by junkie looking dealers. The one up the road from me (Agostino Mitsubishi) used to have that old blue crap around the outside of the builing, 80's tiles inside and a really old Mitsubishi sign. Luckily last year they changed that blue crap to iron stuff and put up a new mitsbuishi sign. It looks somewhat respectable, but still not perfect. The only dealer I can say that gets an A+ at the moment is Australian Motors in Wayville. It used to look half-decent, but now it's going to be near perfect. Previously this Australian Motors dealership sold Mazda, Proton, but a major half of it was Mitsubishi. This Mitsubishi half has no-cars in at the moment and they purchased further land and are building a huge building right to the edge of the used dealer yard. Once completed they are going to have enough room to store every new Mitsubishi model in the range underneath it along with probably all of the used cars. Once it's done (probably around August) I'll take some photo's of it on my phone. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come, pity it's Australian Motors Mitsubishi and not just Mitsubishi, but, that doesn't mean Mitsubishi can't make their other dealerships as nice as this one.

Speaking of dealers also... Here in Geelong the local Mitsu dealer has a showroom dedicated to Mitsubishi's approx 8 metres by 15 metres. They are lucky to have 3 cars on display indoors and the rest are out the front mingling with the dealers other franchises. how does Mitsu have any hope here in Geelong when the dealer who holds the contract for Mitsu also has the contracts for;
* Ford
* BMW
* Land Rover
* Mini
* Renault
* Honda
* VW
* Audi
* Nissan
I reckon that Mitsu here in Geelong is poorly represented and needs to be revamped and put under the control of another dealer. How can you do a deal, lets say on a 380 GT, walk next door and try to screw then on price with a Fairmont Ghia, walk next door and screw them on a Maxima and then walk next door and screw them on an Accord??? Talk about having too many fingers in too many pies! :confused:

"Sydney-centric comments: Mitsubishi dealerships north of the bridge is a complete joke, and probably has a lot to do with lower than expected sales. Why would anyone buy anything from Northshore Mitsubishi, which quite frankly looks like a car wrecking yard?"

Northshore is actually one of the most progressive dealers (despite old hat appearance) - they even service / stock parts for grey imports like FTOs. Also, they recently changed ownership to a group that also sells Alfas etc - so look to bigger and brighter things from them soon I'd say.

Speaking of dealers also... Here in Geelong the local Mitsu dealer has a showroom dedicated to Mitsubishi's approx 8 metres by 15 metres. They are lucky to have 3 cars on display indoors and the rest are out the front mingling with the dealers other franchises. how does Mitsu have any hope here in Geelong when the dealer who holds the contract for Mitsu also has the contracts for;
* Ford
* BMW
* Land Rover
* Mini
* Renault
* Honda
* VW
* Audi
* Nissan
I reckon that Mitsu here in Geelong is poorly represented and needs to be revamped and put under the control of another dealer. How can you do a deal, lets say on a 380 GT, walk next door and try to screw then on price with a Fairmont Ghia, walk next door and screw them on a Maxima and then walk next door and screw them on an Accord??? Talk about having too many fingers in too many pies! :confused:
Ah yes, would that be "Rex Gorell Mitsubishi"??? I've been there a few times, they have a good used car yard. It's well presented but I hear it's not the most productive of Mitsu outlets. On the positive it does front that main entrance.

Edit: do they still have that black GT?:)

Ah yes, would that be "Rex Gorell Mitsubishi"??? I've been there a few times, they have a good used car yard. It's well presented but I hear it's not the most productive of Mitsu outlets. On the positive it does front that main entrance.

Edit: do they still have that black GT?:)
Yes! That black GT is gathering dust outside! Bear in mind that Mitsu is now where Nissan used to be. In a showroom 1/3 the size it once occupied!

:think:
Yes! That black GT is gathering dust outside! Bear in mind that Mitsu is now where Nissan used to be. In a showroom 1/3 the size it once occupied!
Yeah I might just drive down there, trade in the old KS and buy it; and sing as I feel sorry for it "Rex, how much is that 380 in the window..." etc etc lol

Might be a good deal... I'll lower it, put some 18"s or 19"s on, GT stripes, dual zorts etc. Ahh the possibilities...

Yeah I might just drive down there, trade in the old KS and buy it; and sing as I feel sorry for it "Rex, how much is that 380 in the window..." etc etc lol
Do it! Let me know when you are down... They hate me in at Gorells...:D

Do it! Let me know when you are down... They hate me in at Gorells...:D
Hehe ya missed my edit...:confused:

Don't tell me you're a lurker like me :lurk: lol

Hehe ya missed my edit...:confused:

Don't tell me you're a lurker like me :lurk: lol
I have been known to lurk...:redface:

I'll lower it, put some 18"s or 19"s on, GT stripes, dual zorts etc. Ahh the possibilities...

You speak my mind! Now that'd be one hot 380.

Got any plans for personal plates?

Unfortunately, it's not quite as simple as just pumping out more cars = profits. What has in effect happened is that MMAL pulled the model completely, and have re-introduced at a lower price, so were back to square two of the product development cycle.

Now either they were greedy in trying to maximise returns last time round, or they have managed to reduce costs (I know they did to an extent with further factory redundancies), or they are now working very close to their break even point/retail margin.

I think in effect, probably all of the above is true. But here are the following costs that MMAL will be paying out for this year (MMAL's financial year is to 31 March off the top of me head):

First of all, MMAL is going to have to pay about 3 million to those people and fleets who already bought the series one car before the price drop

Then there are all the advisory fees that probably go hand in hand with the price drop - legal and what have you.

Then there is funding a new media campaign

And then this is all combined with the dangers of the increasing oil prices, which may not only effect demand, but may also effect the price of components, freight on board etc.

And if they ever can, obviously they need to repay their parent for their investment, however I believe it was a capital injection, so MMAL can pretty much pay that in dividends to the parent whenever it has to.

Double post, ignore

You speak my mind! Now that'd be one hot 380.

Got any plans for personal plates?

Yeah thought about personalised plates, but unfortunately 6 characters just ain't enough for me. I'd like everyone who drives behind me to read something along the lines of:

"My life is complete now I drive this finest specimen of the earth in the 380GT, and all you conformist bogans driving a Commondork can go stick your s**tmobil where the sun don't shine".

Yeah thought about personalised plates, but unfortunately 6 characters just ain't enough for me. I'd like everyone who drives behind me to read something along the lines of:

"My life is complete now I drive this finest specimen of the earth in the 380GT, and all you conformist bogans driving a Commondork can go stick your s**tmobil where the sun don't shine".
Why dont you just abbreviate it down to this...:upyours:

Yeah thought about personalised plates, but unfortunately 6 characters just ain't enough for me. I'd like everyone who drives behind me to read something along the lines of:

"My life is complete now I drive this finest specimen of the earth in the 380GT, and all you conformist bogans driving a Commondork can go stick your s**tmobil where the sun don't shine".

LOL... That's some good sh*t man! Absolutely love it! :badgrin: :badgrin: :badgrin: :badgrin: :badgrin: