Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is a Japanese automobile company, manufacturing an extensive range of cars and trucks. Mitsubishis are manufactured globally and exported into most major markets, including the Far East, Europe, and the U.S.

Mitsubishi had been engaged in a long-term venture with Chrysler (now DaimlerChrysler), assembling a series of cars and trucks for Chrysler brands since the 1970s. Some Chrysler cars use Mitsubishi componentry, but have been gravitating toward more use of Mercedes-Benz componentry, which is considered superior. DaimlerChrysler recently announced that it was withdrawing all financial support and sold its shares in MMC. However, Mitsubishi will still be able to build the Dakota-based Raider and Chrysler will still use a Mitsubishi-based chassis for its Stratus/Sebring replacements.

For many years, Mitsubishi did not sell in North America under its own brand. That began changing in the United States in 1982. Many of Mitsubishi's early exports bore Chrysler brands such as the Chrysler Valiant (in Australia), Dodge and Plymouth. In some countries, Colt was used as the marque. Beginning in 1989, the Eagle brand was used for some Mitsubishi products in the US.

Mitsubishi has also exported car platform designs and manufacturing knowledge to Hyundai in South Korea and Proton in Malaysia.

Mitsubishi has a long association with movie star Jackie Chan. Chan always uses Mitsubishi vehicles in his movies.

Recovery from financial troubles
 
Mitsubishi has recently fallen on hard economic times. With the exception of the Lancer Evolution rally homologation car and Endeavor SUV, sales have dropped drastically, especially in the critical U.S. 18–35 youth market the company once had a hold of. Ironically, the U.S. youth market aided in the company's economic misfortunes because young buyers would default on their "0-0-0" car loans, where buyers would purchase a car with zero down, zero payments, and zero interest for a year. These loans were liberally extended to consumers in the early 2000s. DaimlerChrysler has refused to buy more Mitsubishi stock than it already has, and the company is scrambling to develop more cars to both retake the youth market and compete in the mainstream market against companies such as Toyota and Honda.

Mitsubishi's sales in the important US market dropped more than 45 percent between 2003 and 2004. in terms of total US sales. However, the company showed marginal year-on-year improvement as of June 2005, indicating that the company's slump may be bottoming out, or even a possible return to form.

In June 2004, Mitsubishi Motors admitted it had systematically covered up auto defects for 25 years. Among the 30 defects, 4 had publicized in 2000. By that time, the company had $9 billion debt, with $1.9 billion loss in for the fiscal year ended March 31. The announcement followed by massive recalls of over half a million vehicles. At the end of the 3rd qurater, the half year result between April to Sept 2004 showed the company suffered net loss of over 146 billion yen during the period.

In July, 2004, Mitsubishi announced that it would immediately cancel the slow-selling Diamante, Lancer Sportback station wagon, Montero Sport, and the Montero in the US market, and would scale back purchase projections for the Mitsubishi/Hyundai/Chrysler Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance engines. In August 2004, Mitsubishi announced that it will not get a minivan developed in cooperation with DaimlerChrysler. Instead, Mitsubishi recieved a version of the Dodge Dakota pickup truck known as the Mitsubishi Raider, and will continue work with DCX on future small cars. Mitsubishi has also been active in OEM production of cars for Nissan, and announced in July 2005 a partnership with PSA Peugeot Citroën to manufacture an SUV.

Mitsubishi has seen remarkable growth in Russia. While Russia is still a developing market, Mitsubishi's sales in 2004 exceeded previous-year sales, and 2005 sales are expected to increase over 70%. With the introduction of a newer Lancer that figure may increase. The compact Colt has also seen success in Germany and the UK, where it outsold competitors from Honda and Toyota (first quarter FY2005 data). The Mitsubishi Motors Thailand-produced Triton pickup truck also looks promising, with 8,000 orders throughout Asia within days of its Aug. 25 launch.

In January 2005, there were rumors that Mitsubishi might withdraw from the United States. These rumors proved unfounded, as evidenced by the debut of a fourth-generation Eclipse. The car has been well-received in the press and by the public, but its staying power and implications for the company as a whole remain to be seen.

Mitsubishi Motors stock prices, which had fell below the penny-stock level in October 2004, rallied to a high of 260 during September, and has stabilized between 225 and 250. While the Nikkei as a whole had increased during this period, MMC stock outperformed the market several times over. MMC reported YoY growth in all markets in September 2005.

The Mitsubishi companies, or the Mitsubishi Group of Companies or the Mitsubishi Group is a large group (keiretsu) of independently operated Japanese companies which share the Mitsubishi brand name.