Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Ok Braam has gotten back to me, apologetic for the slow response, but the meeting is still on but only after the launch of the new Sport and dealer conferences and stuff. I also wont be able to make a trip back up to jozi for this until early April.

We're all busy so lets be patient.

OK,

Lets keep an eye on this post

4ePikanini wrote:I agree that Mitsu should be a supportive leg but should have less rights than the members.

If I can no longer shout bad things about their dumb techies who want to recon every other pump then there's no point.

I love this forum above all others due to the lack of nonsense posted. All facts and debates. Finish and klaar! I for one don't want political boundaries and be scared about what I post because I might **** off Mitsu.

Don't get me wrong I love Mitsubishi but the having them control what happens here is not good.

- you can't use delo, it's not approved
- don't use 2SO it's not approved
- don't service your own vehicle, we know better.....yeah right!

etc. etc.

I agree with Marius and while were at it whats the chances of members recieving discounts on parts? exclusive invatations to launches etc.

Wilddog

Whilst spares availability and pricing is everyone's concern, recent commercial activity makes some of us more interested in the South African future of Mitsubishi as a brand. Commitment by Imperial will only be sustained by them knowing about Market potential. In the same way we want to know how long their future is likely to include Mitsubishi as part of their brand mix. A bit from both parties would be a win win situation.

Hi all,

I think its a fantastic Idea, also agree on independence,
I do feel Mitsu should have a member or 2 that can contribute constructively, as as any of us do.(These members would need to be identified as such)
Mitsu (as honorary members to the club) would need to realize though, that a lot of the discussions are not about what should be done according to the book, but what CAN be done
in order to improve the enjoyability of the vehicle, with that in mind, I think there will not be any down-trodding or anything of the like.
We are offering them a great opportunity here, a chance to interact (and gain insight)with their (generally happy to almost fanatical)customers on the customers turf, and I think for said opportunity, they should be more forthcoming when it comes to our requests for Mitsu sponsorship at G2Gs, I recall a few past times where you have approached them for sponsorship, with no luck. They have already offered us discounts on listed items, which is great, I think time will tell what additional benefits can be garnered for both parties, once things are actually put in place.
To me, the biggest potential pitfall will be Mitsu's mindset when on the forum - as mentioned they need to look at our topics the way we do (I think we all know what can and cant be done without putting our warranties etc in peril) and as long as Mitsu realize that when we criticize them as agents, were not getting personal, were basing said criticism of fact, and hoping for a constructive response.
Little things like Link swapping etc (Mitsu showing a bit of loyalty to us (their customers) will more than likely see our numbers grow, which in return, may see their sales grow.

Simon,

Excellent!!. If I may make a suggestion: Either you or one or two appointed members should be the go-between between the club and Mitsubishi. This will enable you to filter the post and to see that no unwanted massages etc goes to Mitsubishi.

One question / remark that begs for an answer is that of the autobox oil. A number of members complained about gearbox problems - not shifting smoothly, refusing to shift, etc. Other members recommended that Dexron 3 or 5 be used in the autobox. The workshop foreman in Brooklyn, Pretoria told me when I phoned him from Livinstone not to use any other oil except Mitsubishi approved Queens ??/ oil. His words were : "rather drive it back to Pretoria with a low oil quantity but do not add any other type of oil to the box". Maybe this can be one of the first questions to put to Mitsubishi.

Cloyd.

CATS, RoelfleRoux and myself will be meeting with Braam either 5th or 12th May in Johannesburg. I'm waiting for Roelf to get back from vacation to confirm his availability.

So hold thumbs and keep the comments coming.

I know this has been delayed but herewith some general notes between the Club and Mitsubishi Motors, held on the 19th May and Mitsubishi Motors East Rand. The meeting was an informal one where the goal was to ascertain how to develop some sort of synergy between Mitsubishi SA and the Pajero Club. While we didn’t have much time, numerous items were discussed, which I will attempt to describe as fully as possible. No minutes were taken and these are some general notes. The wording is mine and any errors or omissions are mine.

Attendants

• Jaco Oosthuisen (CEO Mitsubishi SA)
• Braam Faul (Marketing Dir. Mitsubishi SA)
• Simon Bloomer (Pajero Club)
• Christo Pieterson (Pajero Club)
• Roelf le Roux (Pajero Club)

We started the meeting with Jaco explaining his position and background. He also outlined several areas which Mitsubishi are striving to improve their business.

The first one and one which we all know about, is spares availability. It came to light that the Mitsubishi SA moved their parts distribution from Japan to Dubai to improve the lead time on imported parts. The problem was that Dubai’s parts profile was not exactly what was required and there was a scramble to sort this out (and it is still being sorted out). The cut-over from Daimler Chrysler to Imperial resulted in two sets of parts systems with obvious problems associated with that

Secondly, there seems to be a complex relationship between the dealers, Mitsubishi SA and Mitsubishi Japan, a relationship which is as cumbersome about as maneuverable as an oil tanker. The fact that Mitsubishi SA cannot (currently) prescribe to the dealers is in our opinion the reason for the disparity between service levels and pricing between dealers, to the extent that we believe some dealers are ripping the customer off.

The steady decline in the Mitsubishi brand as a result of being Daimler Chrysler’s unwanted cousin is evident in the fact that they are aiming at achieving 10% of Toyota sales. It is clear that Mitsubishi believe that the split from Daimler Chrysler and the relationship with Imperial is a step in the right direction. It is obvious that Jaco is a firm believer in networking and he believes the correct networking vehicles will allow both the club and Mitsubishi to achieve at least some of their aims. One of these aims is that Mitsubishi is seen to be very much family oriented, the introduction of the new fun hatch sometime next year aimed at young adults, through to Dad’s Pajero (cross-selling) bearing testimony to this. In addition they want owners to take pride in their vehicles and will be initiating family days through the dealerships nationally.

As regards the Pajero Club, Mitsubishi acknowledges the independence of the Pajero Club and does not want to change that. They will not attempt to influence how we manage the club. Instead they see the Pajero Club as a form of unofficial “ombudsman”. What they DO want however is to be involved in club activities, perhaps contributing in some way to organizing family days, trail fees, braai costs, perhaps some merchandise all the way to having demo vehicles available. In addition they also are revitalizing their community involvement and this is possibly a great area for a partnership to develop with Mitsubishi. We provide some of the manpower and vehicles, they pay for it.

As regards the forum and the website, several things were tabled.

• Reciprocal linking and advertising of our web-site and theirs, with marketing blurb, documentation and event diaries being shared.
• They will not provide any direct funding for the website, but will probably pay to have advertising material available (at least so I can get rid of the google ads), taking into account our independence mentioned above.
• Involvement of their “expert” staff members in forum discussions, specifically with respect to customer service.
• Technical input was also mentioned but some of this might have to be ratified by Japan, especially as regards support for aftermarket accessories.

It's my opinion that the meeting was a positive one, and that Mitsu are committed to the brand, and also to the Club. They do take us seriously, considering they were kind enough to bear my transport costs to and within Johannesburg, as well as their presence at our GTG.

We now just have to make sure the ball keeps rolling

If their "expert" staff joins they should join as a normal member. We have seen many times over that the forums collective knowledge mostly out performs the dealer's knowledge.

Just my 0.02.

Sent via iPad & Forum Runner

Thanks for the feedback, Simon.