Driving up sales

Value, safety and warranty helping Mitsubishi to win back Aussie buyers

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited says the decision to move into the more premium side of the volume segment has resulted in increased sales – and profits – for the Japanese brand.

Chief executive Shaun Westcott said the outlook for the marque was promising, and several models within the range were now selling in record volumes.

“We are really excited about the future and direction of Mitsubishi, and how we are performing in Australia,” he said.

“Our year-to-date sales are up 11.5 percent, despite the overall market being down 5.2 percent year to date. Our market share is 7.8 percent, which is up 1.2 percent and we currently rank third in Australia.

“Triton is performing extremely well, up 28 percent year-on-year with a 13 pick-up sales segment – and an all-time sales record in March of this year.

“We’ve again had very strong performance from Pajero Sport, especially from two-wheel drive and GSR variants we recently added to the range, which has also resulted in a significant lift to 26 percent year-on-year and a ranking of fourth in the large SUV segment.

“The all-new Outlander is up around 43 or 46 percent year-on-year over the previous model, again, a car that has resonated well with the market and a very strong signal of the intention of Mitsubishi to become more premium within the volume segment.”

Mr Westcott said the Outlander SUV range and its newly-launched plug-in hybrid siblings were a clear indicator of the brand’s future direction, the styling, build quality, equipment levels, driveline and connectivity technology and top-shelf safety systems of the model a showcase of what’s to come from the brand – including a potential uptick in price.

“Looking ahead we are the designated lead brand for ASEAN and Oceania regions and, playing to our strengths, we are the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, PHEV, and four-byfour technology specialists within the Alliance. We will continue to play to the strengths of our brand,” he said.

“We are on a journey to reposition ourselves as a more premium brand.

“We are no longer cheap and cheerful, in fact, we don’t compete in any one of the cheap segments. We are looking at moving the brand more upmarket within the volume segment, and that will be seen not only in the price of our product, but also in our customer strategy, the customer experience and the way we market our product.”

Mitsubishi launched its Outlander PHEV range this month and will look to offer range-topping variants of its Triton and Pajero Sport range – including a Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior rival – towards the end of the year.