Mitsubishi

The Mitsubishi Group (三菱グループ, Mitsubishi Gurūpu) (also known as the Mitsubishi Group of Companies or Mitsubishi Companies) is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies covering a range of businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark, and legacy.

The Mitsubishi group of companies form a loose entity, the Mitsubishi Keiretsu, which is often referenced in Japanese and US media and official reports; in general these companies all descend from the zaibatsu of the same name. The top 25 companies are also members of the Mitsubishi Kin'yōkai, or "Friday Club", and meet monthly. The Mitsubishi.com Committee facilitate communication and access to the Mitsubishi brand through a portal web site.

History

The Mitsubishi company was established as a shipping firm by Yatarō Iwasaki (1834–1885) in 1870. In 1873, its name was changed to Mitsubishi Shokai. The name Mitsubishi (三菱) consists of two parts: "mitsu" meaning "three" and "hishi" (which becomes "bishi" under rendaku) meaning "water caltrop" (also called "water chestnut"), and hence "rhombus", which is reflected in the company's logo. It is also translated as "three diamonds".

Mitsubishi Eclipse

The Mitsubishi Eclipse is a sport compact car produced by Mitsubishi between 1989 and 2011. A convertible body style was added during the 1996 model year. The Eclipse was named after an unbeaten 18th-century English racehorse which won 26 races, and has also been rebadged and sold as the Eagle Talon and the Plymouth Laser captive imports through Mitsubishi Motors' close relationship with the Chrysler Corporation. Their partnership was known as Diamond-Star Motors, or DSM, and the vehicle trio through the close of the second-generation line is sometimes referred to by the moniker "DSM" among enthusiast circles. In Japan, the first two generations were sold at a specific Japanese retail chain called Mitsubishi Car Plaza.

The Eclipse was officially marketed in North America, Oman, South Korea, the Philippines, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and China. At the end of August 2011, the final Eclipse rolled off the assembly line, and was auctioned off, the proceeds donated to charity. It was not related to the Mitsubishi FTO while having a similar marketing approach.

Mitsubishi Outlander

The Mitsubishi Outlander is a mid-size crossover manufactured by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi. It was originally known as the Mitsubishi Airtrek when it was introduced in Japan in 2001, and was based on the Mitsubishi ASX concept vehicle exhibited at the 2001 North American International Auto Show. It was sold at Mitsubishi Japan dealership chain called Car Plaza. The ASX (Active Sports Crossover) represented Mitsubishi's approach to the industry wide SUV trend for retaining the all-season and off-road abilities offered by a high ground clearance and four-wheel drive, while still offering car-like levels of emissions, economy and size.

The original Airtrek name was chosen to "describe the vehicle’s ability to transport its passengers on adventure-packed journeys in a 'free-as-a-bird' manner", and was "coined from Air and Trek to express the idea of footloose, adventure-filled motoring pleasure." The Outlander nameplate which replaced it evoked a "feeling of journeying to distant, unexplored lands in search of adventure."

Mitsubishi Challenger

The Mitsubishi Montero Sport is a mid-size SUV produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors since 1996, spanning over two generations.

First generation (1996–2008)

Production began in Japan in 1996, and was available for most export markets by 1997, where it was variously known as the Challenger, Pajero Sport in Europe, Montero Sport in North America, South America and the Philippines, Nativa in parts of Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East, Shogun Sport in the United Kingdom, and Strada G-Wagon in Thailand. Based on the Mitsubishi Strada pickup truck of the same vintage, sharing many components and some body panels (i.e. front doors), the first generation Challenger was also built on the second generation Pajero wheelbase, and served as a junior model to the larger Pajero.

Like the Pajero, it featured independent front suspension with torsion bars and a live rear axle. In addition to numerous face lifts over the years, there was a major suspension change from rear leaf to coil springs in late 2000. As its popularity increased, local assembly for foreign markets was introduced in China in 2003, and Brazil in 2006. Sales were discontinued in Japan in 2003, in North America in 2004 (where it was superseded by the Endeavor), and central and western Europe in 2008. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Car Plaza.

Eclipse

An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. An eclipse is a type of syzygy.

The term eclipse is most often used to describe either a solar eclipse, when the Moon's shadow crosses the Earth's surface, or a lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow. However, it can also refer to such events beyond the Earth–Moon system: for example, a planet moving into the shadow cast by one of its moons, a moon passing into the shadow cast by its host planet, or a moon passing into the shadow of another moon. A binary star system can also produce eclipses if the plane of the orbit of its constituent stars intersects the observer's position.

Etymology

The term is derived from the ancient Greek noun ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis), which means "the abandonment", "the downfall", or "the darkening of a heavenly body", which is derived from the verb ἐκλείπω (ekleípō) which means "to abandon", "to darken", or "to cease to exist," a combination of prefix ἐκ- (ek-), from preposition ἐκ (ek), "out," and of verb λείπω (leípō), "to be absent".