Mitsubishi adjusted North American sales forecast

According to "Automotive News", Mitsubishi recently raised its sales forecast for the North American market due to a rebound in sales in the US market this year, and expects this fiscal year to achieve its first profit in the region since the global economic crisis.

Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko stated that in order to maintain its current growth momentum, the company will launch two new models next year, which may include the long-settled Outlander plug-in hybrid version and the Mirage sedan. It will also be possible to introduce the next-generation Outlander Sport version and the plug-in hybrid version of the Montero SUV to promote the electrification process.

After several years of sluggishness and losses, Mitsubishi finally began to recover in the highly competitive US market. In October, US sales rose by 30% to 64,564 vehicles, which is far higher than the industry's 6% increase. Mitsubishi's best-selling Outlander sports car sold 25,620 units in October, a year-on-year increase of 25%; sales of the second-biggest model, Mirage, reached 14,240 units, compared with 495 units in the United States last year.

Since sales were much higher than expected, Mitsubishi last month raised its sales target for the current fiscal year (April 2014 to March 2015) to 116,000 units, which is higher than the previous forecast of 109,000 units, and is higher than that of Shangcai. The sales volume of nearly 97,000 vehicles increased by 20%.

At the same time, Mitsubishi also set a target of 3 billion yen (approximately US$26 million) in operating profit in the North American market this fiscal year. Although the number is small, Mitsubishi will achieve its first profit in the North American market since fiscal year 2006-2007 if it can achieve this goal. Mitsubishi is expected to lose money this year for the home market Japan.

Yizi Xiu said that “one of the company’s current main goals is to make the North American market turn profitable, and I believe we can do it.”