Sales of Mitsubishi's locally made 380 sedan have taken a dive, a month after the car company announced plans to close its assembly plant in Adelaide.
But support for the company's range of imported vehicles remains strong with a seven per cent rise in its overall market performance in February.
According to official figures released Wednesday, Mitsubishi sold just 471 of its 380s in February, a 53.6 per cent slide on the 1,014 retailed in the same month last year.
The result was also 32 per cent down on the 692 sold in January.
But Mitsubishi spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher said that was the result the company forecast after announcing the model would be discontinued once the assembly plant was closed at the end of this month.
"In fact, we're in a situation of not having any vehicles left, they have all been allocated," she said.
"We're basically building in February and March to our commitments and that was what we expected.
"Those vehicles are basically accounted for with dealerships taking them or through our fleet commitments."
Overall, Mitsubishi's seven per cent rise in demand last month to 5,423 vehicles came on strong demand for its imported models, particularly the Lancer and its light commercial range.
That took the company's year-to-date sales to 10,507, a 9.2 per cent improvement compared to the same period in 2007.
Its performance reflected the overall strength of the vehicle market which was also up just over nine per cent as customers shrugged off concerns over rising interest rates.
Mitsubishi's results seem to vindicate the company's view that a decision to close the Tonsley Park manufacturing plant at the end of March, with the loss of about 1,000 jobs, would not adversely impact on the company's retail performance.
At the time the decision was taken, president and chief executive Rob McEniry said Mitsubishi did not expect a major consumer backlash.
He pointed to rising demand for its imported vehicles and said sales of the 380 accounted for less than 10 per cent of the company's business.
Ms Fletcher said February had been an outstanding month for the company considering the circumstances surrounding the announcement of its plans to close Tonsley Park.
"We didn't show any slackening off during February at all, in terms of sales," she said.
"That is a very heartening result for Mitsubishi."
In fact, excluding the 380, Mitsubishi enjoyed an increase in sales across the bulk of its vehicle range. Only the Grandis people mover bucked the trend with one less sold in February this year compared to February 2007.
Of its bigger selling models, sales of the Lancer were up 5.8 per cent to 1,682 and demand for the Colt rose 35 per cent to 325.
The company also did well among commercial buyers with its two Triton models and sold 702 Outlander sports utility vehicles.
Source
But support for the company's range of imported vehicles remains strong with a seven per cent rise in its overall market performance in February.
According to official figures released Wednesday, Mitsubishi sold just 471 of its 380s in February, a 53.6 per cent slide on the 1,014 retailed in the same month last year.
The result was also 32 per cent down on the 692 sold in January.
But Mitsubishi spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher said that was the result the company forecast after announcing the model would be discontinued once the assembly plant was closed at the end of this month.
"In fact, we're in a situation of not having any vehicles left, they have all been allocated," she said.
"We're basically building in February and March to our commitments and that was what we expected.
"Those vehicles are basically accounted for with dealerships taking them or through our fleet commitments."
Overall, Mitsubishi's seven per cent rise in demand last month to 5,423 vehicles came on strong demand for its imported models, particularly the Lancer and its light commercial range.
That took the company's year-to-date sales to 10,507, a 9.2 per cent improvement compared to the same period in 2007.
Its performance reflected the overall strength of the vehicle market which was also up just over nine per cent as customers shrugged off concerns over rising interest rates.
Mitsubishi's results seem to vindicate the company's view that a decision to close the Tonsley Park manufacturing plant at the end of March, with the loss of about 1,000 jobs, would not adversely impact on the company's retail performance.
At the time the decision was taken, president and chief executive Rob McEniry said Mitsubishi did not expect a major consumer backlash.
He pointed to rising demand for its imported vehicles and said sales of the 380 accounted for less than 10 per cent of the company's business.
Ms Fletcher said February had been an outstanding month for the company considering the circumstances surrounding the announcement of its plans to close Tonsley Park.
"We didn't show any slackening off during February at all, in terms of sales," she said.
"That is a very heartening result for Mitsubishi."
In fact, excluding the 380, Mitsubishi enjoyed an increase in sales across the bulk of its vehicle range. Only the Grandis people mover bucked the trend with one less sold in February this year compared to February 2007.
Of its bigger selling models, sales of the Lancer were up 5.8 per cent to 1,682 and demand for the Colt rose 35 per cent to 325.
The company also did well among commercial buyers with its two Triton models and sold 702 Outlander sports utility vehicles.
Source
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