Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) continues its positive streak as it closed the first semester of 2014 registering a double-digit growth of 17.8%. From January to June of the year, MMPC was able to sell a total of 25,066 vehicles far better than its 21,282 units sold during the same period last year. Combined reports from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturer Association (TMA) showed that MMPC was able to strongly maintain its being one of the dominant brands in the automotive industry with a market share of 23.0%.
In addition, MMPC also recorded its highest monthly sales of 4,535 units, beating the previous sales record of 4,410 units established just last February of this year. MMPC’s June sales impressively posted a 10.1% growth as compared to May sales of 4,120 units. This significant growth is attributed to the increase in sales of both Passenger Cars (PC) and Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV). Last month, MMPC was able to increase its PC sales by 19.6% with 1,133 units sold while LCV is modestly up by 8.8% compared to May 2014 sales. LCV accounted for the majority of vehicles sold last month. A total of 3,054 units of LCV were sold in June. 1,584 units of Montero Sport were sold last month making it the bestselling midsize Sport Utility Vehicle and the number one LCV in the Philippines. Adventure and Strada sales also improved with 664 and 316 units sold respectively.
The sustained sales growth of MMPC can be credited to several factors including its extensive product lineup providing the market a variety of models to choose from. Locally manufactured Adventure and L300 models remain to be a substantial choice among customers who are engaged in small to medium scale business looking for a vehicle which is reliable and with low operational cost of maintenance. The Mirage and Mirage G4 models were also well received by the market with its platform of being a practical yet a small car loaded with class-leading features and most importantly are fuel efficient. Apart from the aggressive marketing efforts, flexible financing plans and promos are made more affordable attracting the market to purchase brand new cars. The stable Philippine economy and increasing investments in the country were also contributory factors to the growth of not only the company but as well as to the whole local automotive industry.
MMPC is confident that sales growth will continue to be strong for the remaining months of the year. It supports the latest CAMPI announcement, that the total industry sales forecast has been increased to 250,000 from the original forecast of 230,000 units. “Given our remarkable and on-track performance for the first semester, it is definite that we will surpass last year’s total sales of 43,176 units. Our goal is to sell more than 50,000 units this year in order to keep at least 20% market share”, MMPC Vice President for Marketing Services Mr. Froilan Dytianquin said. MMPC is working towards new and greater opportunities in order to achieve the goal of further improving its performance in the auto industry that may also translate to generation of additional jobs and businesses benefiting other MMPC’s stakeholders.