ANN ARBOR (Michigan) May 6 — In Japan, the automaker Mitsubishi Motors is mired in a heap of trouble.

Last month, it acknowledged cheating for the last 25 years on gas-mileage tests for cars in Japan, embarrassing top executives and tarnishing a name that has been dented by scandal before. Since then, its stock price has plunged, and it has had to halt production of the tiny models at the center of the scandal.

But in the United States, it is a brighter picture.

Although Mitsubishi is a bit player, it is increasing new-car sales faster than most other automakers and is expanding its sliver of the US market. Helping the surge are a few affordably priced models that can appeal to consumers on tight budgets, a group other car companies often ignore.

The company says the vehicles it sells in the United States — like the Outlander sport utility vehicle and the Lancer compact — are not affected by the fuel-economy deception that took place in Japan. American customers and dealers seem unfazed.

“I read about it; it doesn’t change my mind a bit,” said Timothy Harig, a retired factory worker in Canton, Ohio, who bought a metallic brown Outlander last month for about US$24,000 (RM96,107), a few thousand less than competing models from Honda and Nissan. “I track my gas mileage on every tank and I’m happy with what I have.”

There are others like Harig. In April, while the gas-mileage scandal was making headlines in Japan, Mitsubishi’s sales in the United States rose 18 per cent.

Its performance stands in contrast to that of Volkswagen, which has been mired in an emissions scandal of its own. Last month, Volkswagen sales fell 9 per cent, continuing a steady decline since the disclosure in September.

If anything, Mitsubishi’s low profile has helped it weather the storm in the United States. “With Mitsubishi, it’s a very small number of people who even possibly care” about its troubles at home, said Karl Brauer, an analyst with the auto research firm Kelley Blue Book.

He added that Mitsubishi enjoyed the continuing support of its parent company, the Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s largest trading company with holdings in electronics, finance, machinery and chemicals.

“They still think there’s potential in the US market and so they stick with it,” Brauer said.

Although it is growing in the United States, Mitsubishi still faces hurdles. The gas-mileage controversy has caught the eye of US regulators, and the Environmental Protection Agency has asked the company to provide more information about its vehicles and to repeat one test that is used to determine a car’s official fuel-economy rating.

Don Swearingen, chief operating officer of Mitsubishi Motors North America, said the company was complying and was confident there were no irregularities with the fuel-economy ratings of its US models. He added that he had no concerns that the scandal in Japan could hamper Mitsubishi’s push to grow in North America.

“I think they are very committed,” Swearingen said. “We add tremendous value to the company.”

Mitsubishi recently reported that its North American business generated US$58 million in operating profit in 2015, the second annual profit in a row in the region after seven years of losses.

Still, in the highly competitive US market, Mitsubishi struggles to measure up. Its brand is not a household name like Ford, Chevrolet, Honda or Toyota, and it trails in quality. Last year in J.D. Power’s closely watched initial quality study, Mitsubishi ranked well below average.

Automakers also increasingly push dealers in the United States to build mega-showrooms offering coffee bars and other plush amenities. Mitsubishi showrooms are often small and spartan.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, for example, has a Mitsubishi dealership, but it is tucked behind Hyundai and Nissan franchises, and is overshadowed by Toyota, BMW and Chevrolet showrooms down the street. On Tuesday, the dimly lit Mitsubishi showroom was occupied by four Outlanders and no sales employees.

Ryan Lester, the sales manager, acknowledged that selling Mitsubishis could be tough. “It is what it is,” he said.

Not so long ago, Mitsubishi’s future in the United States was uncertain.

In 2000, it admitted that it had covered up safety defects in its vehicles for years. Then, like other automakers, Mitsubishi was hit hard by the recession.

In 2011, a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan disrupted auto production for months. Lacking inventory, Mitsubishi saw its US sales slump in 2012 to fewer than 58,000 vehicles, half the number in 2007.

The next year, another small Japanese automaker, Suzuki, exited the US market, a move that followed Isuzu’s departure in 2008. It seemed Mitsubishi could be next.

To turn around its North American business, Mitsubishi trimmed its model line, ending production of one of its most popular cars, the Galant, and leaving itself without a midsize sedan. It also decided to close its lone US plant, in Normal, Illinois. Production ended in November.

At the same time, Mitsubishi redesigned the Outlander sport utility vehicle, just in time to catch the wave of consumers moving out of cars and into SUVs. The company also added a small car, the Mirage, that could travel 40 miles or more on a gallon of gas.

Visit Doug Waikem at his Mitsubishi dealership and you see two of him: aggressive marketing is what Waikem is on about.

Both vehicles are aggressively priced. The Mirage, for example, starts under US$15,000. In the last two months, Mitsubishi offered rebates of US$3,500 that brought prices on 2015 Mirages down further, said Doug Waikem, owner of a Mitsubishi dealership in Massillon, Ohio.

“I like the brand,” he said. “It’s not huge volume but I can take someone who’s looking at a used car and say, ‘Hey, I can get you into something new for about the same price’.”

That is just the deal Steven Sanders made at Waikem’s dealership last month. Sanders, a YMCA teacher and college student, was looking to trade in his beaten-up minivan for a used Honda Civic. New Civics, which sell for US$18,000 and up, were out of his price range.

But then his wife ran across the Mirage and fell in love with it, Sanders said. With his trade-in and the rebate, his total cost came in at US$11,000.

As for Mitsubishi’s troubles in Japan, he didn’t put much stock in it. “I read a lot of reviews,” he said. “I have a friend who has a Mitsubishi.” He added, “I feel good about it.” — New York Times