Out of Sight of US Investors, Mitsubishi is Crafting Electric Vehicle Strategy That May Really Pay Off
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
When public perception of a company changes, the value investors place on owning its shares does too. Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors appears to be setting the stage for a big change in its public perception, a change that could make its shares a lot more valuable.
Mitsubishi’s new public image will be built around electric vehicles, cars and trucks that have already started to grab global media attention because they can be “filled up” with electricity that costs only a fraction of what gasoline costs today.
Mitsubishi’s public perception should benefit enormously if it follows through on plans to introduce its plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) in 2009, a year ahead of its rivals, General Motors and Toyota. But there’s more – maybe a lot more – to Mitsubishi’s electric vehicle strategy that could captivate the public.
Mitsubishi appears to be in line for a big electric vehicle order from Japan’s postal service, which has announced that it’s considering buying some 20,000 short-distance electric delivery vehicles, perhaps in just a few months. If and when that deal occurs, watch for media outlets around the world to approach their own postal services with questions about when they might go electric in order to cut both costs and greenhouse gas emissions, with Mitsubshi’s Japan deal mentioned prominently every time.
Thus does a media groundswell start to build that over time changes a company’s public perception, the same way the Prius hybrid has changed Toyota’s.
Mitsubishi may further benefit from publicity surrounding its groundbreaking research with the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The two are working on an electric vehicle charging station that would fuel electric vehicles with electricity from wind and solar power. There are thousands of environmental journalists around the world, and each should be fascinated by the idea of using emissions-free green power to “fill up” an emissions-free electric vehicle.
Could the name Mitsubishi become synonymous with emissions-free transportation? What do you think?
