Mitsubishi has yet to make any official announcements, but Nikkei Asia says the Japanese automaker is in negotiations to sell off its remaining assets in China and leave the country for good: competing with the local brands has proven too difficult.
Mitsubishi reported selling a meager 38,550 cars in China in the entire last year – a 60-percent plunge from the result of 2021. Not even the launch of the Airtrek EV (shown here) or the Outlander hybrid could improve the situation.
As a result, local automakers have claimed over 50% of the domestic market of China in 2022, increasing their share by 5% compared to the year before and reducing the share of Japanese marques by a further 3%.
Nikkei Asia says Mitsubishi failed to foresee the impending EV popularity boom in China and was too slow to adapt, so abandoning the market to its competitors was likely the only remaining option.