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Mitsubishi 380 2005-2008 Workshop Repair manual digital download

The Mitsubishi 380 is a mid-size car that was produced between 2005 and 2008 by Mitsubishi Motors Australia. Available only as a sedan, it marked the end of Australian production by the Japanese manufacturer.

The 380, given the model designation DB, was the successor to the Mitsubishi Magna/Verada line of vehicles first introduced in 1985 (and 1991 for the Verada) but was only available as a sedan. The company spent over A0 million developing and producing the car, which is heavily based on the ninth generation Mitsubishi Galant designed in the United States. The 380 continued the Mitsubishi Australia tradition of producing front-wheel drive sedans for the Australian market, and along with the Toyota Aurion, competed against the rear-wheel drive Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore vehicles.

Even before the car's launch in October 2005, the 380 was stigmatised as the "make or break" model for Mitsubishi Australia. After a slow sales start, the line-up was updated with the Series II in April 2006, with the entry level model receiving price discount of nearly 20 percent. To generate further interest in the car, a Series III revision came on 29 July 2007 with mainly cosmetic changes. These updates failed to lift sales, and with production still unprofitable, Mitsubishi ceased manufacturing of the 380 in March 2008 after just short of three years in production. A total of 32,044 were produced over the three year production, of which 30,195 were sold in Australia.

The development of the 380 began in 2002, when company executives in Japan gave approval to Mitsubishi Australia to commence work on two closely related vehicles. The first of which was a right-hand drive variant of the ninth generation Mitsubishi Galant, designated the codename PS41. This was to be the replacement for the Magna and Verada. The second, which was planned to be launched in 2007 was a long-wheelbase version known internally as PS41L to be produced in both left- and right-hand drive configurations.However, as Mitsubishi's financial woes worsened, and DaimlerChrysler pulled-out of the DaimlerChrysler-Mitsubishi alliance, PS41L was abandoned in 2004 and the likelihood of PS41 making it into production looked even more doubtful. Company research conducted in mid-2004 revealed that 84 percent of Australians believed that Mitsubishi would cease production in Australia. To reinstate consumer confidence in the brand, before the launch of the 380, a series of television commercials began airing in December 2004. Centralised around Mitsubishi Australia's then CEO Tom Phillips, the advertisements promoted the introduction of an industry-first five-year warranty. Mitsubishi reworked a slogan from former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca, concluding their commercials with the tagline.

In total, A0 million was spent on developing the 380, including 0 million on upgrading the Adelaide production facility to manufacture the vehicle.

The name 380 was chosen as a fresh start to Mitsubishi's sale of its sole Australian-made vehicle, given that the Magna name was now synonymous of slow-selling vehicle that was long overdue for a replacement. Indeed, among the seven names short-listed from a total of 220, Magna was not one of them. According to then CEO, Tom Phillips, the chosen name polled the best and, at the official launch, he stated "'380' conjured up images of high technology, European standards, sophistication and performance with consumers. All of those attributes correlate directly with the positioning of our new car, and when added to the build quality that we are renowned for and a large 3.8-litre engine, '380' was a natural choice for the name of the car".

From the very beginning of the project, Mitsubishi had always intended that the PS41 would be set apart from the North American Galant in terms of exterior styling. The problem was that PS41 had to share the same basic foundation and the side profile was to remain for the most part unchanged. A revamp of the Clovelly Park facility allowed for the use of more robust bodies. The consequence of this is the tooling required to produce the panels. This gave Mitsubishi the opportunity to make several low key variances to the design. These came in the form of larger front guards, a revised bonnet, new headlamps as well as grilles and bumpers.

The front-end of the PS41 was originally penned by Mitsubishi's design chief, Olivier Boulay. Boulay was also responsible for the 2003 Magna/Verada facelift, but this update fared poorly with buyers. When DaimlerChrysler pulled out of their alliance with Mitsubishi in 2004, it put an end to Boulay-designed Mitsubishis. This allowed for one final chance to progress the exterior design. However, with little more than a year until production, the redesign was shared between Mitsubishi Australia and its parent in Japan. The basic design that was reserved for the base and mid-luxury models was devised by the Japanese studio, whereas the sports oriented design that was conceived locally was reserved for the sports and upper-luxury models within the 380 range.

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