Mitsubishi puts Raider production on hold
Kathy Jackson
Automotive News / March 13, 2006 - 6:00 am



LOS ANGELES -- Mitsubishi has asked the Chrysler group to halt production temporarily of the slow-selling Raider as the pickup languishes on dealers' lots.

The Raider, assembled alongside its sibling, the Dodge Dakota, posted sales of just 492 units in February. The company had a hefty 208-day supply of the pickup as of March 1. Sixty days is seen as a general goal.

In February, the company started offering $3,000 dealer cash.

The Raider went on sale last September.

"The dealers are not doing well with that truck. We can't hide that," says Chuck Barber, a member of the Mitsubishi dealer council. "It needs to be priced more competitively."

Larry Goldstein, general manager of Castle Mitsubishi in Chicago, says he has sold only one Raider since November.

"We've asked the company for floorplan assistance but were told no," he said.

The Raider's problems are part of a larger malaise at Mitsubishi. Through two months this year, Mitsubishi sales in the United States are down 21.8 percent to 15,445 from the same period of 2005. Dealers are lobbying the company for more incentives.

Dealers say the Raider is overshadowed by the Dakota, which posted sales of 6,260 in February.

Both pickups come with V-6 or V-8 engines. The Raider's base price is $19,825. The Dakota starts at $20,885. Both prices include shipping.

"The Raider has a good thing going because it is the only compact import (brand) truck with a V-8, but I bet very few people even know that," says Jesse Toprak, an analyst for

Edmunds.com, an auto consumer Web site. "They need a good marketing campaign to get people into the showrooms."

Rumors are rampant among dealers and some Mitsubishi employees that the Raider could be canceled after one model year. They say Mitsubishi so far has ordered fewer than half of the approximately 20,000 minimum units it promised to order from the Chrysler group assembly plant in Warren, Mich., during the first year.

Rich Gilligan, co-CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., says no decision has been made to cancel the pickup. It's not clear when production might resume. He hopes the incentives will spark sales.

"We have adjusted the orders of Raider because we have too many in inventory," Gilligan says. "So we will watch it over the next four to six months, and that will determine how we will go forward with ordering."