Gasgoo.com (Shanghai July 21) - Mitsubishi realized about 20% sales growth in China in the first half of the year; however, it was fully depended on a simple portfolio of only three SUVs, which indicated risks for the company to be marginalized in the rapidly-changing Chinese vehicle market.
Mitsubishi sold 36,000 units in the first half of the year, a 22% year-on-year increase, while the overall sales of Chinese SUVs in the same period surged 45.94% from a year earlier to 2.66 million units. Mitsubishi’s general sales growth rate fell far behind that of the overall industrial SUV in the first half of the year.
The three SUVs for Mitsubishi include Mitsubishi ASX, new Pajero and imported Outlander, which helped Mitsubishi grab the market in a short period.
In May, GAC Mitsubishi began to offer a high discount of 30,000 CNY to relieve its high inventory. In particular, Mitsubishi ASX and Pajero buyers can enjoy a discount of 30,000 to 40,000 CNY.
In fact, Mitsubishi sales growth was partly contributed by the relatively low sales cardinal number of Mitsubishi compared with other Japanese automakers.
As other automakers especially domestic companies launching new models rapidly, Mitsubishi only got three existing SUVs, one of which Mitsubishi ASX’s sales made up for 85% of GAC Mitsubishi’s overall sales target.
On the other hand, Mitsubishi also tried to launch new alternative-fueled SUV, exhibiting new Outlander plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the Shanghai auto exhibit in April.
