Is Mitsubishi Getting Lean, Clean and Fiscally Fit?
According to Reuters news agency, a top executive at Mitsubishi Motors Corp. stated yesterday that he believed its North American operations would once again be profitable as soon as the automaker's fourth quarter of the current fiscal year, from January to March of 2005.
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| A top exec at Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said he believed the company would be profitable by the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year. (Photo: Mitsubishi Motors North America) |
This is a bullish projection from an auto manufacturer that's dropped significantly in sales this year, due in part to the company tightening up its very loose financing policy as well as a purposeful reduction in unprofitable fleet sales.
Mitsubishi Motors North America's (MMNA) overall new vehicle sales continued to slide from 12,301 units in June to 11,192 last month, but just the same the automaker reports that retail sales in July actually improved significantly.
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| Retail sales for Mitsubishi in July improved more than 30 percent over June 2004. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
"Retail sales in July improved more than 30 percent over June 2004, which shows that Mitsubishi's 'Best Backed Cars' program is gaining momentum with customers and building showroom traffic," stated Michael M. Tocci, MMNA senior vice president, sales, distribution and fleet.
The automaker, now led by ex-Hyundai Motor America CEO Finbarr O'Neill, recently upgraded the "bumper-to-bumper" coverage of its U.S. new vehicle warranty to five years or 60,000 miles, in addition to the ten year, 100,000 mile limited powertrain warranty announced in January 2004.