TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors Corp., now wallowing in red ink for six-straight quarters, hopes to restore profitability by focusing on the quality of its sales in the U.S., not the quantity.
To drive better results in North America, Mitsubishi will launch the redesigned Outlander midsize crossover, with the reveal set for Feb. 16, and dial down fleet sales in a bid to bolster brand value.
Yoichiro Yatabe, Mitsubishi’s co-COO, outlined the U.S. strategy last week while announcing a worsened financial performance for the automaker. Mitsubishi widened its net loss to ¥34.1 billion ($330.3 million) in the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31. It posted a $139.5 million net loss a year earlier.
“We have changed course … from spending a large amount of money to increase our market share and sales volume,” Yatabe said of the new North America strategy. “More specifically, we are trying to make our sales network leaner and more muscular, and we have significantly changed our sales method from relying on fleet to achieve greater sales volume.”
The quest for profitability over share will be aided by the Outlander launch, he added.
