Mitsubishi outstrips European market with 2007 sales performance

During a milestone year, which saw some radical strategic shifts in its distribution as well as successful introduction of key new models, Mitsubishi Motors Europe B.V. (MME) has increased its sales momentum.

Beating the European market

Posting a 9% increase over CY 2006 with a total of 227,630 sales in the 33 countries of its business region – or + 6.2% in ACEA terms – MME has been able to outdo the overall European market (+ 1.1% / ACEA figures).

This excellent performance was achieved in spite of a sluggish German automobile market (- 9.2% overall and a slow down of the Mitsubishi Motors business in the United Kingdom.

Beyond Russia

This success can be further appreciated in light of the decision to turn Russia – previously MME’s largest growth market – into a stand-alone business region last April.

This decision has and will continue to allow MME to concentrate upon strengthening its performance in Europe, as already shown in the CY 2007 figures, with for instance:

France (+ 31%): MME’s turnaround plan for this demanding market started to bear fruit, further fuelled by the success of Outlander (60% conquest rate) and Shogun as well as the good performance of Colt.

Norway (+ 45%): Number Ten brand overall in this market, Mitsubishi enjoyed a great 2007, thanks to new models – starting with Outlander – which have proved better suited to the Norwegian market than their predecessors. A high investment in sales & marketing, from new showroom standards to strong media presence played its role, all supported by MMCN’s strategy of continuous improvement.

Switzerland (+ 20%): Repositioned in this country and supported by the warm reception to its new products led by Outlander, the Mitsubishi Motors brand has clearly benefited from its take-over by Emil Frey Group in terms of perception, logistics (IT systems, PDI,…), network (closing of open points,…) and marketing (new advertising strategy).

The same applies to other Western European markets, such as:

Italy (+ 5% with Shogun doubling its sales, L200 as segment leader, and Colt continuing to do well in the Italian B-segment – the largest and toughest in Europe)

Spain (in spite of an decrease of the overall market of 1.3%, Mitsubishi sales remained stable in this country with a slightly improved market share)

The Netherlands (+ 5% with Outlander playing a key role like elsewhere, but also Colt confirming the momentum built since 2004 in this country).

In parallel, the Ukraine – where Mitsubishi Motors remains the Number One brand overall for the 4th consecutive year - continues to progress at a fantastic pace (+ 95%), more than twice as fast as the total market growth (+ 46%).

New Frontiers

Not content with strengthening its positions in the mostly declining Western markets, Mitsubishi Motors Europe continued to push hard in Central Europe, the Balkans, the Baltic States & the Mediterranean area, vindicating its pioneering long-term strategy for these promising regions.

The growing importance of these “New Frontier” markets is clearly underlined by the ACEA in its review of the last year: ”Soaring oil prices, changes in taxes, shrinking credit availability and purchasing power restrained buyers’ confidence and the demand for new cars in some of the Western European countries (+ 0.2 %). In the new EU member states, where car density is still much lower and many households have been able to afford buying a new car only recently, a steady growth was recorded throughout the year (+ 14.5 %).”

Examples abound for Mitsubishi Motors in these countries, all managed by highly professional distributor organizations:

Baltic States: Estonia (+ 45%), Latvia (+ 26%) or Lithuania (+ 34%)

Central Europe: Poland (+ 63%), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (+ 49% consolidated) or Romania (going from 1,672 units in CY 2006 to 3,578 sales in CY 2007).

The Balkans: Slovenia (+ 63%) or Bulgaria (+ 93%)

The Mediterranean area: Israel (9,057 sales or + 24%) or Turkey (6,971 sales or + 6%)
Profitable growth

Undoubtedly, Mitsubishi Motors Europe did benefit from the warm welcome its newest received from media, distributors, dealers and customers.

Whilst Shogun fared well with total sales of 29,715 units (Europe: 22,018 units + Russia: 7,697 units) during the first 9 months of its presence in the market (vs. an original annual objective of 25,000 sales including Russia, at that time, still an MME market), Outlander was the major booster achieving a high conquest rate of 80 % despite some shortages in certain markets.

The actual sales mix has also proved much richer than anticipated for both cars with 40% (and increasing) of Shogun orders for higher specification trim and 32 % for Outlander – all important in terms of profitability.

Last but not least, Colt delivered nearly 70,000 sales, a strong result for such a relative newcomer reaching the mid-point of its lifecycle, all within the fiercely contested European B-segment.

Confidence
Commenting on these results, Tim Tozer – President & CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Europe B.V. said: “2007 has been another good year for Mitsubishi sales in Europe. Sales of our two new 4x4s – Shogun and Outlander – have been particularly buoyant, consolidating our strong reputation in this field and for the latter, achieving a high conquest rate of 80% – thus introducing the merits of our Brand to thousands of new customers. We have also seen solid progress in certain key markets which augurs well for the future.”

He added: “Late 2007 has also seen the launch of our new Lancer Sports Sedan, the first in a complete new family of C/D segment cars which includes the also new Lancer Sportback and Lancer Evolution which arrive later in 2008.

He concluded saying: “These products will spearhead our entry into a 5 million unit a year segment enabling sales and profit growth to continue this year. We look forward to 2008 with confidence.”