Mitsubishi auto sales rise 22% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. saw its sales rise by more than a fifth in the first quarter from a year ago due to strong demand across its vehicle line-up.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) it sold 10,016 units in the first three months of the year, 22 percent higher than in the comparable period a year ago.

The firm’s first quarter sales accounts for 24 percent of the market, making it the second best-selling automotive brand in the country.

The increase in sales was driven by the demand for its vehicle models.

MMPC’s passenger car (PC) sales surged 587 percent to 2,172 units as of end-March from a year ago.

The firm noted that the introduction of the Lancer EX 1.6 and Mirage last year strengthened MMPC’s presence in the car segment in the first quarter.

MMPC’s sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) meanwhile went up by 2.2 percent to 4,528 units in the first quarter from the same period in the previous year.

MMPC said the Montero Sport, the L300, Adventure and Strada were among the top 10 selling LCV models for the first quarter.

For the month of March alone, the firm’s total sales went up slightly to 3,612 units from 3,554 units in the same month last year.

Its PC sales climbed 9.5 percent year-on-year to 785 units.

LCV sales also increased by 4.9 percent to 1,609 units from the previous year.

MMPC is confident that it will be able to sustain its strong performance in the first quarter for the rest of the year, citing its extensive vehicle lineup, aggressive advertising and promotions as well as the positive economic conditions.

“We are truly delighted about our first quarter sales performance and how the total industry is growing.  The increasing industry trend provides us confidence of meeting or even surpassing the target volume for this year,” Taizo Furuhashi MMPC’s executive vice president for marketing said.

“We are confident that given an improved supply, new model introduction and upgrades and exciting campaigns slated for the coming months, MMPC will be able to keep its positive streak and maintain to be one of the top vehicle brands in the country,” he said further.

Earlier, MMPC officials said they are aiming to sell at least 40,000 units this year, the highest goal set by the firm.

The firm’s sales hit an all-time high in 1996, when it sold 36,500 units.