Won't chase Chinese brands to the bottom: Mitsubishi said competing on price won't work and buyers still see value in Honda, Subaru and Mazda as Japanese favourites feel the squeeze from new top Chinese players GWM, BYD and MG

Mitsubishi Australia boss, Shaun Westcott, said the brand can’t and won’t chase Chinese brands to the bottom when it comes to price, and alluded to it being unsustainable for others in its position to try to.

Westcott’s comments come as Mitsubishi launches its updated and Aussie-tuned petrol-powered Outlander at a price, which is now competing with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) versions of the Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8.

Chery isn’t the only rival muscling in on an area of the market, which Mitsubishi would argue it helped establish in Australia with its long-running Outlander PHEV. The new version of the Outlander PHEV will arrive later in 2025.

MG was the first to rock the boat when it comes to plug-in hybrid versions of mid-size SUVs with its previous-generation HS +EV, which was followed by BYD’s Sealion 6.

Mitsubishi is shedding its more affordable models from its line-up, including the ASX and Eclipse Cross SUVs as it awaits new-generation models of each. Both will inevitably be more expensive as they swap their sourcing to Europe.

So are the days of competing on price over for Mitsubishi?

Westcott said: “Many are competing, and not just the Chinese with each other, but other brands are discounting themselves to compete with them, and I’m going to go as far as to say people don't only buy on price."

“If that was the case, every one star hotel would be full and every five star hotel would be empty and that’s the reality of life.

“People buy on more than that, they buy on attributes, they buy on style, they buy on things that meet their lifestyle needs or personality, or status, or whatever it may be

“Now we plan to be a three or four star hotel and, I’m using allegories to make it as simple as possible, we know who we represent. We want to be there for middle income Australia,” he said.

Mitsubishi also intends to lean on its history and status as a brand, which once built cars in Australia as part of its pitch to customers who may be willing to pay more for a brand with its heritage.

“It’s not just about the product, it’s our history in this country as well. We’re going to celebrate 45 years next year, and that’s part of what has allowed us to have the second largest distribution network and dealer network around the country,” added Mitsubishi Australia GM of Product Strategy, Bruce Hampel.

“The after sales support is, you know, second to none at this point. The product is reliable and capable, and if something does go wrong we’re there for them and they can find a dealer close by.”

“The new starts in the market will have to build that up. That will take them many years, two or three product cycles with their product. We’ll see whether they can actually continually demonstrate that they are capable of delivering an equivalent product to the established OEMs,” said Hampel.

Westcott admitted this may not be an advantage forever, as MG and GWM are starting to put runs on the board as early Chinese success stories in Australia.

“There will be a point where that is no longer a competitive advantage over the Chinese,” he said.