Actually, the signs were already pointing to farewell for Mitsubishi on the German market. Then everything turned out differently.
There was great excitement when Mitsubishi announced last summer that it no longer wanted to develop new models for the European market. When the managing director of Mitsubishi Germany left the importer at very short notice at the end of 2020, this also seemed to indicate that the brand was leaving Germany.
Werner H. Frey has been heading the business of Mitsubishi Germany again since the beginning of the year. The experienced manager worked for the Japanese brand from 2014 to 2017 before taking on other tasks at the importer Emil Frey Group. In an interview with SP-X, Frey speaks about the future of the brand in Germany and comments on new models.
SP-X: Mr. Frey, you have been Managing Director at Mitsubishi Germany again since January 1st. Some think you were only brought back to liquidate the brand?
Frey: No, I would not have come back for such an assignment. Mitsubishi is staying in Germany and I want to do my part to further strengthen the brand in this country.
SP-X: But the uncertainty was already great, especially since your predecessor Kolja Rebstock also left the company at short notice. How did the dealers react?
Frey: We haven't lost a single dealer in Germany. So there is trust in the brand and I also stand for continuity and further development with our partners.
SP-X: And what's next for Mitsubishi in Germany? When will new models come, when will the first all-electric vehicle come?
Frey: We are currently introducing a new model, the Eclipse Cross Plug-in Hybrid, which will complement our extremely successful Outlander plug-in in this area. Despite the difficult conditions, I still expect 10.000 Eclipse PHVs and 7.000 Outlanders PHVs this year. Overall, despite the difficult start to the year, we want to achieve at least 40.000 approvals.
We now have to survive two bridge years, from 2023 there will be two new models for Europe that we are developing with the support of our alliance partner Renault. These will be two vehicles in the B segment - a car and an SUV - that clearly bear the Mitsubishi DNA. We hope to get information about other models very soon.
"With the Eclipse Cross plug-in hybrid, we are currently introducing a new model that will complement our extremely successful Outlander plug-in in this area:"