Mitsubishi’s Stars are rising

Mitsubishi, which at one time looked as if it might be on the ropes, bounced back on the strength of some canny marketing and a much improved model line-up to finish in third position in the New Zealand new market in March. “It’s a brilliant result,” says Mitsubishi NZ sales boss, Peter Wilkins. “Our current small-car promotion for Colt and i-car has delivered record sales, but more importantly all of our new products have (done well).” Colt sales doubled the February total, notching 167 registrations, and the Outlander crossover SUV racked up 137 sales.

The arrival of a new 2WD specification boosted Triton ute sales to 103 and the recently launched new Lancer found 97 buyers. The ageing old model Lancer had been Mitsubishi’s Achilles heel.  “So far for 2008 we are sitting in fourth position overall,” says Wilkins. “It’s our intention to stay there. We have more new product arriving later in the year. “Globally, Mitsubishi Motors is on a roll. Production is struggling to keep up with demand and new markets such as China and Russia are rapidly emerging.  “Overall, the outlook is very positive,” he says.