One of Japan’s most established car brands could be exiting the UK car market after Mitsubishi announced that it is freezing the introduction of new models in Europe with immediate effect.

The news was announced by Mitsubishi’s licensed UK importer, Colt Car Company who told their distribution network in a letter today. According to CCC the brand will remain on sale until such a time that they no longer comply with European regulations. The news means that the forthcoming Eclipse Cross plug-in hybrid and Outlander PHEV will not be arriving on UK soil.

Earlier this month the trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ announced that Mitsubishi’s UK sales had fallen by 51.9% in the first half of 2020.

In a letter to its retailers CCC said today that it “did understand that MMC was facing difficulties and we were anticipating that there may have been some further delays in, and adjustments to, their future product plans".

It added: “In terms of the future for The Colt Car Group of Companies, we have already been looking at opportunities to bring additional new vehicle brands into the UK as a distributor and have already been in early dialogue with some alternative emerging market brands with an EV product strategy.

“Whilst the discussions are at an early stage, in light of today's announcement we are focused on accelerating these opportunities with the goal of introducing additional brands to our business as quickly as possible.

“Clearly, if we are able to progress some of these initial contacts into a viable business proposition it will represent future options and opportunities for us all.”

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