Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) reports that its United States sales decreased during the fourth quarter of 2022 by 17 percent year-over-year to 20,756. The entire year was pretty challenging for the Japanese brand, as sales in 2022 amounted to 85,810 (down 13 percent) compared to 2021.
Mitsubishi says that sales volume continued to be limited by industry-wide supply constraints. Maybe 2023 will be better then.
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi has a chance to revive its plug-in electric car sales with the arrival of the all-new Outlander PHEV in dealerships in late November. According to the company, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV right away set a new monthly record in December (without providing an exact number).
In Q4, sales of the model amounted to 829, which is over 37 percent more than a year ago and 4 percent of the total volume.
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV sales in the US - Q4 2022
In 2022, Mitsubishi delivered 1,961 Outlander PHEVs in the US (outgoing and new generation counted together), which is 13 percent less than in 2021 (2,250). It's also 2.3 percent of Mitsubishi's total volume.
For reference, the internal combustion engine version of the Outlander was Mitsubishi's top-selling model with 40,942 units in 2022.
Cumulatively, the company has sold over 13,200 Outlander PHEVs in the country, compared to well over 300,000 sold globally (mostly in Europe) since 2013.
There is a big chance that the year 2023 will be much better for Mitsubishi's electrification than 2022, but it still might not be enough to achieve a truly groundbreaking change.
We are very curious whether Mitsubishi will step up its game and introduce more plug-in models in the near future.
For now, there is only the Outlander PHEV, which starts at an MSRP of $39,845 plus a destination/handling charge of $1,345 ($1,470 in Alaska/Hawaii). With a 20 kWh battery, it has an all-electric range (EPA) of 38 miles (61 kilometers) and a total range of 420 miles (676 km).
