"Mitsubishi" trademark first appeared at the end of18th century. It first appeared in the form of a chamber of commerce and later developed into a Mitsubishi joint venture. World War I promoted the development of land, sea and air mobile tools, and Mitsubishi also took this opportunity to develop technology. 19 17, Mitsubishi separated its main shipbuilding industry, and "Mitsubishi Shipbuilding" began trial operation, and launched a diversified business strategy focusing on shipbuilding.
Photo: Mitsubishi A, imitating Fiat's car design style.
19 18, Mitsubishi shipbuilding successfully built a four-wheeled vehicle "Mitsubishi a" equipped with internal combustion engine power system. ? Mitsubishi A can be said to be the starting point of Mitsubishi Motors. It is handmade, and the whole design is based on Fiat? Zero sum fiat? 3. The engine used as power is manufactured by Mitsubishi Internal Combustion Engine (later renamed Mitsubishi Minghang) and is also a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Joint Venture. Even if you refer to the design, you can't change the fact that it is not only the first domestically produced car in Japan, but also the first production car in Japan. Mitsubishi Type A was released at 19 18, when there were only two test vehicles. Up to 192 1, 22 vehicles were produced together with the test vehicles, of which 12 were for sale.
Mitsubishi did not continue to develop the automobile manufacturing industry after successfully manufacturing the first automobile. Even though World War I only planted seeds for the automobile industry in Asia, the time is not yet ripe. Referring to the experience of World War I, the use of flying tools has been paid more attention. Mitsubishi internal combustion engine, which is responsible for Mitsubishi A power part, was originally established as a company specializing in the development of aircraft internal combustion engines. Mitsubishi did not continue to engage in the development of civil vehicles because of its biased development policy. Obviously, they made the right choice because the war broke out again.
During this period, there is not much worth mentioning about Mitsubishi. 1934, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding was renamed Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and put into production of military aircraft, so as to accumulate capital and status. However, it must be mentioned that Subaru, formerly known as Nakajima Aircraft, also provided military aircraft for the military during World War II. In terms of strength, Nakajima aircraft has a slight advantage, and the subtle competitive relationship between Mitsubishi and Subaru has actually been established as early as this period. 1950, Mitsubishi heavy industries, which had a good life, was split into three companies because of the anti-monopoly policy, and the automobile department was placed under one of them. At this time, Mitsubishi resumed its automobile business. In September of the same year, as the first step of "new" business, Mitsubishi launched the American car "Henry? J "assembly and sales business (Henry? J is a model launched by American Caesar automobile, and its parts are imported by Mitsubishi and assembled and sold on site. 1953, Mitsubishi contracted the production and sales of Willis Jeep.
Photo: Kaiser compact car Henry? j .
However, Mitsubishi did not come up with its own products to restart the automobile business in the decade after the war. Before the war, it had automobile manufacturing technology, but after the war it fell behind other Japanese automobile manufacturers. 1955, Japan implemented the national automobile policy and promoted the popularization of automobiles on the principle of cheap cars. At 1958, Subaru? 360 fired the first shot, and cheap mini-cars became the new favorite of the citizens. The appearance of Japanese cars is also a turning point for Mitsubishi. Until 1964, three separate companies merged again and officially changed their names to Mitsubishi heavy industries. 1970, in order to establish business cooperation with Chrysler, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation was formally established as an independent automobile department.
"Mitsubishi?" 1960 launched? 500 "is Mitsubishi's first car after the war, and its appearance elements refer to the European bubble? The car, named "500", is equipped with a rear-mounted twin-cylinder engine with a displacement of 493cc. Mitsubishi? The popularity of 500 is average, so it only existed for two years. Then Mitsubishi introduced K-Car Minica and commercial vehicle Mitsubishi? 360。
After the reorganization of 1964, Mitsubishi gradually expanded the types of cars. In view of the development of family cars, Debonair flagship limousine, Clot (Pony) series and Van(MPV) series have been developed successively. Delicat series, as well as the intermediate model of galante series.
Photo: The first generation of Colt series appeared in 1962.
Photo: First generation Galant series debut 1969 second-hand Clot? In the name of Galant, use "Galant" alone after entering the United States.
Photo: The picture shows the fourth generation Delika.
1973, the first generation of "Lan Se" series was born, which became a sharp weapon of Mitsubishi and laid an important foundation for many subsequent models. In fact, Lancer was originally designed to attend rallies rather than bulky Galant. This compact and operable model is an unexpected commercial success. Through the continuous exposure of Lancer series, Mitsubishi has won and expanded its brand reputation in the World Rally (WRC). Not only that, Pajero, a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle launched by 1982, became famous in Dakar Rally, and the off-road trend in the early 1990s was centered on Pajero. 1992, lancer, which combines galante engine, lancer frame and Pajero four-wheel drive technology? Evolution has pushed Mitsubishi's rally business to a peak.
Photo: The first generation of lancers was born in 1973.
Photo: The first generation of Pajero 1982 went on sale.
Photo: The first Lancer? Evolution was born in 1992.
The oil crisis in 1970s promoted the popularization of front-wheel drive in Japan, and Mitsubishi's first front-wheel drive was born in 1978. Colt's successor, Mirage, had a sister relationship with Lancer at the same time, and was sold in markets outside Japan under the name of "Colt". This compact and flexible model provides an important reference value for the future series precursors of Mitsubishi Motors. When Mitsubishi announced the discontinuation of Phantom series, the new Colt series inherited its positioning. Another representative sports car is FTO introduced by 1994, which is used to fight against cars such as Nissan Silvia, Toyota Celica and Honda Integra. Interestingly, Mitsubishi insisted on inking the "automatic transmission" in FTO promotion.
Figure: "Phantom" is a unique name in Japan, while phantoms in the United States and Europe inherit the name and vehicle positioning of "Colt".
Similarly, Mitsubishi has implemented different automobile development plans at home and abroad. Focusing on the above-mentioned models, Japan is taking the development route of miniaturized cars. After entering 2000, Mitsubishi of Japan basically withdrew from the mid-to high-end vehicle market. Mitsubishi successfully developed the electric vehicle i-MiEV in 2006, and started mass production in 2009 to promote the development route of new energy vehicles.
Since 1970 cooperated with Chrysler, Mitsubishi has grasped the sales channels of the American automobile market and launched a global sales strategy centered on the United States. As a part of international sales strategy, Galant series first landed in the United States in 197 1 year. Subsequently, muscular Galant was derived from Galant. GTO. Since then, Mitsubishi's impression in the United States has become more and more "sports". ? 198 1 year, Mitsubishi motors designed a branch in the United States and began to prepare for expansion in the American market.
After the oil crisis in the 1970s, the demand for small-displacement cars in the American market rose sharply, which was a painful problem for Chrysler, which used to manufacture big cars. On the other hand, because the United States had quantitative restrictions on foreign automobile imports at that time, the number of cars imported from Japan could not meet the soaring market demand. In order to solve this situation, 1985, Mitsubishi Motors and Chrysler founded the merged automobile manufacturing company DSM(Diamond? Star? Moters), which specializes in manufacturing Mitsubishi and Chrysler models for the US market, including Starion, Eclipse and GTO. In terms of cars, Colt, Lan Se and galante are the centers.
Photo: Mitsubishi Starion released by 1982.
Figure: The first generation of Eclipse was released at 1989.
Photo: Mitsubishi GTO published by 1990.
Mitsubishi Motors recovered DSM in full on 1993 and changed its name to MMMA (Mitsubishi? Motor? Manufacturing? Yes? In 2002, it was renamed as North American Mitsubishi Motors MMNA Company. From 65438 to 0998, the merger of Daimler and Chrysler enabled Mitsubishi and Daimler to establish capital and business cooperation. Until 2004, the shares of Mitsubishi Motors owned by Daimler-Chrysler returned to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Mitsubishi Motors returned to Mitsubishi Group. Based on this reorganization, Mitsubishi's WRC team began to suspend business in 2006. In this way, the cooperation between Mitsubishi and Chrysler for more than 30 years came to an end.
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