One thing is certain. Iwasaki would have been appalled by the car firm's performance. After losing ¥215 billion in the past financial year, sales are still falling. More losses beckon. Safety breaches, exacerbated by cover-ups, at the Mitsubishi Fuso truck firm have damaged its brand. There are no exciting models in the pipeline. So when DaimlerChrysler, a German car giant with a 37% stake in Mitsubishi Motors, decided recently that it would no longer throw good money after bad, few other investors were likely to help—except the Mitsubishi family.