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The Mitsubishi 380 is a mid-size car that was offered between 2005 and 2008 by Mitsubishi Australia. Available only as a sedan, it marked the end of Australian production by the Japanese manufacturer. The 380, given the model designation ''DB'', was the successor to the Mitsubishi Magna/Verada line of vehicles first introduced in 1985 (and 1991 for the Verada) but was only available as a sedan. The company spent over A$600 million developing and producing the car, which is heavily based on the ninth generation Mitsubishi Galant designed in the United States. The 380 continued the Mitsubishi Australia tradition of producing front-wheel drive sedans for the Australian market, and along with the Toyota Aurion, competed against the rear-wheel drive Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore vehicles. Even before the car's launch in October 2005, the 380 was stigmatised as the "make or break" model for Mitsubishi Australia. After a slow sales start, the line-up was updated with the Series II in April 2006, with the entry level model receiving price discount of nearly 20 percent. To generate further interest in the car, a Series III revision came on 29 July 2007 with mainly cosmetic changes. These updates failed to lift sales, and with production still unprofitable, Mitsubishi ceased manufacture of the 380 in March 2008. == Development == The development of the 380 began in 2002, when company executives in Japan gave approval to Mitsubishi Australia to commence work on two closely related vehicles. The first of which was a right-hand drive variant of the ninth generation Mitsubishi Galant, designated the codename ''PS41''. This was to be the replacement for the Magna and Verada. The second, which was planned to be launched in 2007 was a long-wheelbase version known internally as ''PS41L'' to be produced in both left- and right-hand drive configurations.〔Carey, McCarthy (2005), p. 9〕 However, as Mitsubishi's financial woes worsened, and DaimlerChrysler pulled-out of the DaimlerChrysler-Mitsubishi alliance, ''PS41L'' was abandoned in 2004 and the likelihood of ''PS41'' making it into production looked doubtful. Company research conducted in mid-2004 revealed that 84 percent of Australians believed that Mitsubishi would cease production in Australia. To reinstate consumer confidence in the brand, before the launch of the 380, a series of television commercials began airing in December 2004.〔Carey, McCarthy (2005), p. 10〕 Centralised around Mitsubishi Australia’s then CEO Tom Phillips, the advertisements promoted the introduction of an industry-first five-year/ warranty. Mitsubishi reworked a slogan from former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca, concluding their commercials with the tagline, "if you can find a better-built, better-backed car anywhere, then buy it". In total, A$600 million was spent on developing the 380, including $250 million on upgrading the Adelaide production facility to manufacture the vehicle. This included the installation of a new body press, casting the body sides from an individual piece of steel. This has the effect of producing a size differentiation from body-to-body, compared to the industry standard of in 2005.〔Carey, McCarthy (2005), p. 36〕 The name 380 was chosen as a fresh start to Mitsubishi's sale of its sole Australian-made vehicle, given that the Magna name was now synonymous of slow-selling vehicle that was long overdue for a replacement. Indeed, among the of seven names short-listed from a total of 220, Magna was not one of them. According to then CEO, Tom Phillips, the chosen name polled the best and, at the official launch, he stated "'380' conjured up images of high technology, European standards, sophistication and performance with consumers. All of those attributes correlate directly with the positioning of our new car, and when added to the build quality that we are renowned for and a large 3.8-litre engine, '380' was a natural choice for the name of the car".〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.nextcar.com.au/n.mitsubishi.380.name.05jul.html )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mitsubishi 380」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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