Makes / Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi was founded in the early 1870s by Yataro Iwasaki as a shipping company. It grew quickly and diversified its business. Before the broke out of WWII, it had already become one of the biggest firms in Japan. Many warships, tanks and military aircrafts, e.g. the Zero-fighter, were the work of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. However, it seems that the company overlooked the potential of motor cars. Although the first Mitsubishi car was produced as early as 1917, only 22 copies were built before it abandoned car production. Its 2004 Colt and 2005 mini car i were considered as successful launch, which helped bringing the company briefly into profit.