Mitsubishi exits China
Mitsubishi is discontinuing its China business. The Japanese carmaker justifies its withdrawal from the Chinese market by saying that the shift from internal combustion to electric vehicles in China has hit its existing range and sales have fallen far short of expectations.
Production at the Changsha plant in Hunan province was already halted in March. Mitsubishi has only one electric model on offer in China. Only 515 units of the eSUV Airtrek were sold last year.
Mitsubishi is not the only legacy carmaker struggling to keep up in China – today, we also reported that Mercedes is rethinking its China strategy in the face of sluggish electric car sales. While many legacy carmakers continue to focus on larger status vehicles, indicators show that smaller vehicles with lower space and energy requirements are doing well, while Chinese companies are also competing strongly in luxury segments with advanced software, among other things. According to the IEA Global EV Outlook report for 2023, China currently accounts for around 60% of global electric car sales.
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