No, the AU went WAY, WAY better than the Edsel.  It'd be very hard to beat the floppy-ness of the Edsel nowadays with all the research car makers do.  If a car flopped like that today, not only would all the people that worked on it be fired, pretty much everyone else in the company would probably go as well, just to be sure.

Ah, a ford fan.

 

here's one a TATA ute, made by a ship yard or something along those lines.

Edited June 30, 200521 yr by TRD ke70

EXCUSE ME!!! I don't think so. Not Holden. Not Ford. I take cars on their individual merits and try to see through brand allegiance. Although I am very partially to both Toyota (obviously) and BMW. And sometimes Honda and Mitsubishi.

someone needs a hug!!!

grumble, grumble, suggest I'm a bloody Ford fan, grumble, grumble

mitsis are well knowen for being the WORST jap brand. they were GOOD in the 80s. in the 90s, they sucked badly.

theres a reason why they are bust and looking like being non exsistant in about 2 years....

Yeah, I can't see them improving in a hurry unfortunately. It's a pity the DaimlerChrysler input hasn't/didn't work like Renault did for Nissan. Nissan were in DEEP shite and look at how well they're doing now!

 

Also, on the topic of Japanese manufacturers, has anyone else heard the rumour (that I read today in Wheels) about Honda considering buying up MG-Rover? I think it'd be a great idea, especially as they've had some success working together in the past. The way I read it it is so Honda can have a more respectable sports division. As long as MG & Rover got to keep some kind of separate identity for their vehicles it could work well. And I could definitely see the MG TF with an Integra motor and possibly a sports version with the S2000 motor.

 

Of course it'd be way better if Toyota bought MG-Rover. The MG TF and the Toyota MR2 could be built on a common platform (rather than the MR2 just being discontinued), and Toyota could then develop a Celica replacement and a new Supra far more cost effectively. Damn, I reckon Toyota should be hiring me. I might just sit and wait for my call from Tokyo...

Of course it'd be way better if Toyota bought MG-Rover. The MG TF and the Toyota MR2 could be built on a common platform (rather than the MR2 just being discontinued), and Toyota could then develop a Celica replacement and a new Supra far more cost effectively. Damn, I reckon Toyota should be hiring me. I might just sit and wait for my call from Tokyo...

Unfortunately the only company I can see Toyota buying up at the moment might be Kelvinator or Westinghouse. It seems they've long lost the drive to make exciting vehicles and are content to churn out the automotive equivilant of whitegoods.

 

It does seem to be working for them financially though.

hehe more than just financially. they pretty much own the world market... iv seen the figures...... wow :P

Yeah financially they're doing awesomely. I heard about a year or so ago that Toyota has enough cash on hand to be able to buy BMW outright, with enough capital/collateral left over to be able to buy all of Honda as well. That's a fair bit of money! And considering MG/Rover sold for something like 50 pounds (with debts cleared) last time it sold, I'm pretty sure they could afford that as well.

haha they have the capital to buy the other top 7-8 companys and not have to crimp on anythig else..... thats ford, gm, dailmeler chrysler, PSA etc etc :P

Surely they can't have THAT much. You'd think they would try and buy a business to complement their own. Something that they could take a little bit of risk on (design-wise). MG-Rover could provide for that, although, I could see Lotus fitting in even better. And Lotus are already using the 2ZZ-GE for the Elise/Exige. Next could be the new Esprit with a 2GR-GE or 3GR-GE (2GR-FE or 3GR-FE with Yamaha or Lotus developed heads).

quality aside, mitsubishi cars are just a pain in the ass to work on, i've seen it happen to family and friends before. every model has about 3 for 4 variants, of which there is no way AT ALL to tell what's what, and often you'll order a very expensive part in (or get something from the wreckers) only to find it doesn't fit your car, even though the listing says it does. and there are probably 2 or 3 other parts you can get which have the same description and application but different part numbers, and are totally different things

Heh. Like the fact that the normal Lancer CB has a completely different lower control arm and bush to the GSR model. Whiteline didn't know this, sent me the wrong part, spent about a week arguing about it until I sent them a photo of the bottom of my car, then they had to go and make me a custom bush :P

It amazes me that Mitsubishi is still running as they have no idea about economically building cars. The model of Galant that I have (HG/HH) was released in three different variants in Australia: SE, GSR, VR4. Each model has very different suspension, the SE has Macpherson struts, the GSR has height adjustable suspension (which is really shit and is often replaced with the SE's setup), and the VR4 which is similar to the SE, but the back is obviously different to cater for the 4WD and 4WS.

last year the govt bailed mistubishi australia out to the tune of several million dollars because they couldn't afford to keep going. the govt would rather lose a few bucks straight up than have tens of thousands of aussies out of a job and have to pay them the dole, especially considering most of them are probably unemployable due to age and our general job availability situation

 

that's how mitsubishi survive