Despite being tied to larger corporations, dealerships are local businesses with unique histories in their communities. For this reason, on Mondays our Leith: Fully Detailed blog series selects one of our 33 dealerships and provides a little of its history. The goal is to make the dealership and the people who work there a bit more approachable and to give you a sense of their story. Today the dealership we’re highlighting is Leith Mitsubishi of Fayetteville.
Many people might not know that Mitsubishi Motors is one of many subsidiary companies owned by Mitsubishi Group, a Japanese consortium founded in 1870. It was Mitsubishi Group who came up with the colorful red logo (Mitsu-bishi means “three-diamond”) all the way back in the 19th century. The company experimented with automobiles in Japan for several decades before beginning mass-production of cars in the 1960s.
It was in 1971, however, that Chrysler bought into the company to bring its vehicles to America. Slapping a Chrysler badge on Mitsubishi’s Galant, they called it the Dodge Colt, and later the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Sapporo (not hiding too much with that last name). This fuel of American sales made Mitsubishi strong enough to buy Chrysler’s Australian manufacturing operations. In 1988 Mitsubishi decided to become a publicly-traded company, which gave it capital to expand, consider buying Honda, and soon the ability to become independent of Chrysler.
At this apex moment in 1988, Leith Mitsubishi of Fayetteville was founded. The squarish building with an oversized top was the base for one of the hottest automakers of the day, and the only of Japan’s 11 automakers that wasn’t privately owned. It was a thoroughly modern and progressive international corporation that would go on to forge partnerships with Volvo, Citroen, Renault and Hyundai.
Today Leith Mitsubishi of Fayetteville is one of the Leith Group’s most established dealerships, and one with a terrific sense of history. We’d love for you to stop by some time and get to know the people there who love going to work every day.
