Why is Mitsubishi selling Renault models at such a high price?

Mitsubishi manufacturers, which had its glory hours in the rally, especially with the Lancer or even with the Pajero in the Dakar, almost disappeared from Europe. The manufacturer himself announced his withdrawal, before eventually changing his mind.

To save himself, Renault came to give him a hand. Even if the Union no longer exists, the French manufacturer offers its ASX SUV, the Renault Captur, turnkey, and the Colt city car, which is none other than the Clio, the best-selling model in 2023 according to statistics. published in late November.

An advanced strategy in the automotive industry, but the pricing structure is still confusing, especially in France. Indeed, with legitimacy being very weak and a very small network, the Japanese manufacturer still dares to show its two more expensive models than Renault’s. And this when Renault is a prophet in his country, the manufacturer takes advantage of the bad reputation to show prices that are higher than in other countries. Shame, no?

Clio and Captur cheaper than ASX and Colt

In this month of December 2023, the Clio hybrid starts at €23,600 while the Mitsubishi Colt with the same engine is priced at €26,490. Another example, the high-end Clio (Esprit Alpine full hybrid 145) is sold for €27,400 while the Colt Instyle, still with the hybrid unit, is €29,990! If at the entry level, we can always explain the difference in equipment, at the top level, apart from the few possible options, the difference of € 1,600 is known.

Is this the only case? Nope. Because with the ASX, the situation is the same or almost the same. Indeed, the latter starts at €24,990 with a 1.0 MPI 90 hp engine. while the Renault sells for €25,550. This time, Captur is more expensive, but such a small difference is not enough for the customer to turn to the Japanese manufacturer. And at the top of the range, the ASX Instyle hybrid costs €34,990 while the Captur powered by the same engine settles for €34,000.

The Mitsubishi ASX is more expensive at the top of the range than the Captur

High price, but commercial policy based on discounts

In doing so, Mitsubishi is not overshadowing Renault, that’s for sure. Almost no potential Clio customer will want to look elsewhere if the grass is greener. Especially since the selling price may be lower for the Japanese model compared to the French version.

On the other hand, if Renault’s discount is currently the lowest and fleet sales are low, Mitsubishi can on the other hand offer attractive commercial discounts to individuals, but also make it possible to sell large shares to professionals.

For its public sale price, Mitsubishi is however offering a €2,000 “Customer Benefit” rebate, as well as a €1,000 trade-in subsidy for ASX and €1,500 and €500 respectively for Colt purchases. This discount allows the two Japanese models to drop below Renault’s prices. By displaying a higher price, the brand can communicate strong discounts and not fake…

Clio and Captur, which will soon be modified, so you don’t have to tremble. They still have good days ahead of them, especially in France.