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According to a report by the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) today, a source told it that Mitsubishi Motors has decided to terminate its car sales and production operations in China and withdraw from the Chinese market, and a formal decision is expected to be made as early as next week. At the same time, sources also revealed that Mitsubishi also decided to sell its stake in a Chinese company, which is mainly responsible for managing Mitsubishi production in China.

It is worth noting that there will be news about Mitsubishi Motors' withdrawal from China recently. On Oct. 6, it was reported that Japan's Mitsubishi Motors has decided to stop producing cars in China. Japan's Mitsubishi Motors hopes to withdraw its investment in the local joint venture with GAC GROUP, but the joint venture with GAC GROUP may be retained. In terms of factories, GAC-Mitsubishi has only one factory in China, which is located in Changsha, Hunan Province. it may be changed into a pure electric vehicle production base by GAC GROUP. At that time, the report said that Mitsubishi of Japan is still in final negotiations with GAC GROUP.

Earlier on Sept. 27, Mitsubishi Motors was also reported by the Japanese Economic News that it would stop producing cars in China, and the company had begun final negotiations with GAC GROUP on this. At that time, the head of Mitsubishi's public relations department responded to the news that the report was not officially released by the company, continued dialogue with shareholders and had not yet made any decision.

In fact, in March this year, the GAC-Mitsubishi plant in Changsha, Hunan Province, was reported to have stopped production because of low sales. On July 12, the official of GAC-Mitsubishi issued a letter to all employees of GAC-Mitsubishi. According to the letter, due to the impact of market transformation, sales did not meet expectations and the operation was in difficulty. The company will officially enter the temporary shutdown stage in June, at the same time optimize the personnel structure according to the actual situation, and try our best to protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees in accordance with the law. Although, in the letter, GAC-Mitsubishi did not mention that it would withdraw from the Chinese market. But in recent years, the development of Mitsubishi Motors in China is not satisfactory.

Relevant data show that from 2019 to 2022, GAC-Mitsubishi sold 133016 vehicles, 75001 vehicles, 66006 vehicles and 29112 vehicles respectively. Of course, the decline in sales of GAC-Mitsubishi has something to do with its own small volume, single product, limited channel layout, low influence of product power and brand power, and slow electrification transformation.

Looking back on the holding hands of Mitsubishi and GAC, there was also a period of highlight. In 2016, GAC-Mitsubishi launched the Outlander model, and the new car was very popular in the market as soon as it was launched. GAC-Mitsubishi sold 117388 vehicles in 2017, up 110.04% from the same period last year. Olander sales in 2018 continued to rise, with 105621 vehicles sold in the whole year, accounting for almost the majority of GAC-Mitsubishi sales in 2018, while GAC-Mitsubishi sold 144018 vehicles in 2018. However, the good times will not last long. Because of the single product, the lack of its own channel layout, and the lack of product power, GAC-Mitsubishi's sales have declined year by year since 2019. By 2022, the sales volume was only 33600, ranking at the bottom of GAC GROUP and becoming the joint venture brand with the biggest decline.

Under the increasingly fierce market competition of new energy vehicles, the electric transformation of GAC-Mitsubishi is slow. So far, it has only launched a pure electric model, the Artuco, which will be launched in 2022 and positioned as a pure electric SUV. Unfortunately, new car sales fell short of expectations, becoming the last straw to crush GAC-Mitsubishi, with data showing that the Atuco sold only 631 vehicles last year.

In fact, Mitsubishi Motors' situation is only a microcosm of most car companies. under the background of the rapid rise of domestic new energy vehicle enterprises, the market share of fuel vehicle sales in China's domestic market has also been reduced, and the process of electrification will not be speeded up. More and more car companies will be eliminated. The auto industry is concerned that it is only a matter of time before Mitsubishi Motors withdraws from the Chinese market.

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