Why is the Outlander ignored? Simply because of the writer's ignorance. The Outlander sells relatively well in Canada, about 500-600/mo in average; this is still 3-4 less than the CRV, which is usually the second best sellingcompact (behind Escape), but a reasonable number IMO. It still out-sales, by a small margin the Forester and by a larger margin Mazda CX-7.
In my office (about 30 people), there are 3 of them. In Toronto area they are a pretty common site lately. Only today on my way to work, I saw 4 of them on the highway (while I was driving mine of course).

The Outlander is "Recommended" by Consumer Reports (along with RAV4, CRV and Forester) and it's IIHS "Top Safety Pick" so you can only ignore it if you are indeed an ignorant. Mitsubishi’s brand equity (or lack thereof) in the US could be blamed I guess.

 

I am proud to say I was the first in my city to have an Outlander. I enjoyed at least the ona and a half year running around town showing my toy before I saw another one. And to really brag about it, I would say I have influenced some of the buyers that currently own one now. I have this mortage guy for our home that bought the Outlander after he saw me driving one, so that's one confirmed case.

What mitsubishi lacks in the US, IMO, is the way they sell their cars. Showing a commercial saying how "cool" the Outlander is with such a heavy metal guitar tune in the background isn't really going to sell the car, IMO. What mitsubishi needs to do is tell the public WHY they should buy the Outlander instead of the competition. Cool is nice but at this state of the economy, not so many consumers care about cool a lot. They should rather market why the Outlander is more car for their money, instead of showing kids and young adults drive an Outlander to a skateboard ramp. Or show two adults driving the Lancer round and round the freeway exits. That's pure nonsense to me. If they gonna do cool, then just a little of it, and not make that the whole point of their commercial. The US is flooded with options for a mid size SUV, and Mitsubishi needs to get it right with the little advertising budget they have to sell their product. I think they could have sold more if they hit the sweet spot with their advertising scheme.

I have been a Mitsubishi owner (or my parents were) and I have went to many places with my 92 Lancer. That thing took a beating from me and never let me down. I know they are reliable. And I would, for practicality's sake, continue to buy their products if the need arises.

 

Yup, they never utter a word about it being a PZEV (same emissions as a hybrid), that its interior is made from some recycled materials and gets 27mpg.

They never mention the towing capacity or how the room behind the seats compares to the competition. The adjustable 4WD is important too.

They were trying to attract the college age market. Thats not really where the money is.

 

the interior has recycled materials in it? i did not know that

 

I spoke with a salesman of Mitsubishi in Long Beach, CA, and he said to me that the reason of the little success of sales of the Outlander in the USA is due to the 3a row, that when the buyer potential look since it is done, no returns, they prefer a SUV with one 3a row “normal”. . .

 

i find the 3rd row, useless. but maby when the kids are a bit older it might be a seat that is "fun" for them to sit in. im not sure. we will have to see.

 

Here in Winnipeg, I find it amusing that I see more outlanders on the road than cr-v and rav4. I was happy when i bought mine in 07 as everyone was looking at my car as it was a rare model. But now, it's different, eveyone has one.

I believed it's all about branding, hondas and toyotas are just overrated here in Canada both in quality and resale values compared to other brands.

 

I think we will see the same thing with Mistu as we did with Mazda a few years ago, particularly because of the new Lancer. The Mazda3 made Mazda relavent and helped draw attention to the Mazda6 and the CX-7 and 9.

The Honda's and Toyota's are pricing themselves out of the Market, and the Mitsubishi products out-class the kia's and hyundai's of the world.

Hopefully the new Lancer will bring a few more people into dealerships and lead to more sales of the other vehicles.

I've got a 07 Outie, andmy experiencelead my girlfriend to buy an 09 Lancer.

 

i bought an 07 xls fwd after looking at everything available..

........which led me to later buy an 08 lancer gts.

......which led me to buy 09 ralliart.

 

too lazy to look right now but on the www.outeverything.com site if you wander through the thumbnails it says something about the dash or doors being recycled.

I always figured that was why the scratch so easily.

Oh and I left out the 5 star safety rating.