Mitsubishi Motors global sales down by 9%

Like most automakers, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) wasn't immune to the effects of the global pandemic. The Japanese automaker recently had announced its results for the financial year 2019-2020. According to the report, sales are down by 9%.

From April 2019 to March 2020, MMC sold approximately 1,127,000 units. For comparison, 1,244,000 units were shifted from the previous financial year (April 2018 to March 2019). That's down by 117,000 units from last year's figures and ended the streak of double-digit growth over the past two years.

According to MMC, the sharp decline in unit sales due to the pandemic, “greatly exceeded their expectations”. With lockdowns in place, one can say that limited mobility has also prevented prospective customers from buying a vehicle. At the same time, consumer priorities could have shifted over the past couple of months, not just in Japan but also worldwide. They also said that demand in core markets (ASEAN and Australia) was, as a whole, weaker than before.

Over the past couple of months, Mitsubishi went on the product offense with updated models being launched in quick succession. There was the heavily updated Montero Sport, Xpander Cross, and, for the Japanese market, eK Cross and eK Wagon Kei cars. Locally, the Xpander Cross arrived in the market just before the lockdown. With most Mitsubishi dealerships opening nationwide, the car is now available for sale.

Mitsubishi Motors says it's too early to make a forecast for 2020 to 2021 financial year. In their words, “In some regions, economic activities have begun to resume in stages, but we do not anticipate overcoming and exiting of the COVID-19”. The current situation has made it difficult to gauge the coming months accurately, given the unpredictability of the pandemic's spread and effect worldwide.