Mitsubishi Motors Corp., maker of the i-MiEV electric car, plans to raise its stake in one of two joint ventures in China to 50 percent by 2011 and produce a new small car with its local partner.
"We need the 50-50 venture to be able to make cars our way," President Osamu Masuko said in an interview today in Tokyo, where the company is based. Mitsubishi will make a new small car at the unit after increasing its shareholding, he said.
The automaker has a 14.59 percent stake in GAC Changfeng Motor Co., which makes the Pajero sport-utility vehicle, and owns 25 percent of Southeast (Fujian) Motor Corp., an assembler of Lancer sedans. Masuko didn't say which partnership he plans to increase control over.
Taking a bigger stake in one or both ventures would give Mitsubishi Motors greater influence over the models it makes and sells in China, the world's biggest auto market. The company's minority holdings in its Chinese partnerships contrasts with larger Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., which share equal stakes with their partners in the country.
China's vehicle sales may rise 17 percent this year to 16 million, and annual demand may eventually exceed 30 million, according to the State Information Center. Mitsubishi Motors aims to sell 180,000 vehicles this year in China and 300,000 by 2015, Masuko said.
Mitsubishi Motors fell 0.9 percent to close at 115 yen in Tokyo trading, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.2 percent. Mitsubishi has declined 10 percent in 2010.
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