Colt Car Company
Encyclopedia
The Colt Car Company Limited is a privately owned business established in 1974 as part of Mitsubishi Motors
' global expansion programme for the purpose of importing and distributing cars and light commercial vehicles in the United Kingdom
. For the first decade of its existence, British market Mitsubishis were sold under the "Colt" marque until the rebranding to Mitsubishi, which then bought the marque in line with the rest of the world.
It was a 51/49 joint venture between Colt Automotive Ltd and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. Three subsidiary companies exist: Spitalgate Dealer Services, which specialises in dealer wholesale stocking, Shogun Finance, the retail finance company, and Colt Cars Mid West, which owns eight Mitsubishi dealerships across the south of England.
s, which limited the company to around 10,000 sales per year. The relaxation of these quotas in 1996, together with the introduction of Europe
an-built models at the NedCar
facility in Born which were unaffected by the quota, allowed for a rapid expansion in the late 1990s.
In 2008, David Blackburn retired his shareholding of the company and his stake was sold to the Mitsubishi Corporation
, specifically to its subsidiary MC Automobile (Europe) NV (MCAE). As result, Colt Car Company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of MCAE.
(Sources: Facts & Figures 2000, Facts & Figures 2005, Facts & Figures 2008, Mitsubishi Motors website)
Mitsubishi Motors
is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production...
' global expansion programme for the purpose of importing and distributing cars and light commercial vehicles in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. For the first decade of its existence, British market Mitsubishis were sold under the "Colt" marque until the rebranding to Mitsubishi, which then bought the marque in line with the rest of the world.
It was a 51/49 joint venture between Colt Automotive Ltd and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. Three subsidiary companies exist: Spitalgate Dealer Services, which specialises in dealer wholesale stocking, Shogun Finance, the retail finance company, and Colt Cars Mid West, which owns eight Mitsubishi dealerships across the south of England.
Sales since 1995
For the first twenty years of its existence, business was restricted by voluntary import quotaImport quota
An import quota is a type of protectionist trade restriction that sets a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country in a given period of time....
s, which limited the company to around 10,000 sales per year. The relaxation of these quotas in 1996, together with the introduction of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an-built models at the NedCar
NedCar
NedCar, officially Netherlands Car B.V. and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors, is the only large-scale automaker in the Netherlands. Based in Born on a 927,000 m2 site, it has a capacity of approximately 200,000 vehicles, and produced its millionth vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space Star, on October...
facility in Born which were unaffected by the quota, allowed for a rapid expansion in the late 1990s.
In 2008, David Blackburn retired his shareholding of the company and his stake was sold to the Mitsubishi Corporation
Mitsubishi Corporation
is Japan's largest trading company , a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 50,000 people and has seven business segments including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemicals, food and more....
, specifically to its subsidiary MC Automobile (Europe) NV (MCAE). As result, Colt Car Company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of MCAE.
| Year | Total sales |
|---|---|
| 1995 | c. Circa Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date... 12,000 |
| 1996 | c.17,700 |
| 1997 | c.23,800 |
| 1998 | c.23,500 |
| 1999 | c.20,600 |
| 2000 | 18,087 |
| 2001 | 22,133 |
| 2002 | 26,419 |
| 2003 | 32,882 |
| 2004 | 37,545 |
| 2005 | 37,812 |
| 2006 | 34,467 |
| 2007 | 30,953 |
(Sources: Facts & Figures 2000, Facts & Figures 2005, Facts & Figures 2008, Mitsubishi Motors website)