Most people know that when they reach rock bottom, that they should stop digging. Apparently the minds at Mitsubishi decided that once the shovel quit being useful, that they would ask for a jackhammer and some blasting materials, because they obviously weren’t done trampling all over the reputation for neat sports cars and tough trucks and SUVs that the company cultivated in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Here’s the deal: the company is trying to rebuild in the United States market after letting products like the Outlander and the Evolution…the freaking Evolution!…wither and die on the vine. Now we are getting crossovers a-plenty, starting with the Eclipse Cross, your typical crossover that takes the name of one of Mitsubishi’s most weighted names and uses it to clean it’s hindquarters with. That’s bad enough. Then there is the ad with your random salesman freestyle rapping to potential customers. This smacks of 1990s “Hey, kids, I’m cool too!” pandering. And finally, this tidbit of news: the company has launched a mobile app called Road Assist+ that asks American commuters to share data on their driving habits with insurance companies. In return for the invasion of privacy and tracking data collection, Mitsubishi will reward good driving behaviors with such things as discounts on oil changes, vehicle accessories, and potentially free coffee and gift cards.
What bullshit is this? I know insurance companies offer the little dongle that you plug into your OBD port that tattles on you so that you save a few bucks, but this is the first time I can find that a manufacturer is attempting this kind of coercion. Apparently, this is Mitsu hedging a bet…in a Wall Street Journal interview, Mitsubishi Motors Senior Manager Bryan Arnett explained that the app is a way to help stabilize income by adding a second form of cash inflow should sales drop off of a ledge.
So what do you think? If a car company is willing to give you discounts and free stuff, would you hand over your driving data to an insurance company? Would you even remotely consider this at all? We want to know!
Talk about dangling the carrot in front of the donkey,WTF. And the list you give ,other than the coffee.Will be their products .Not like a night out at the movies or something like that. I’m sure some mental midgets will line up to have big brother watch their every move. The greedy insurance companies love this stuff. So prepare yourself boys and girls ,its coming. One day soon we will all have to have a tracking device in our vehicles
I wonder how much they will charge your wife to see the tracking data?
Wanna improve their image in the American market?
How about Mitsubishi owning up to using our prisoners of war as slave labor in their metal foundries during WWII.
Yes… that really happened.
The 3000GT was by far the only halfway desirable vehicle they ever made.
I made $3,000.00 dollars overnight working for….nah, just screwing with you. Hey, 3000GT? The damned thing weighed more than a new Challenger! What about the Starion? What about the EVO? Come on, the ’80’s is over! (Almost 30 years ago, I might add)! Nevertheless, I love my ’80’s Mitsu product, eating American and Austrailian prisoners notwithstanding (I hear they didn’t like the taste of the Chinese). I’ll keep my 1980 Plymouth Arrow pickup, with the 360, 904, 8.75 combo, and no data collection devices, thank you very much!