for Mitsubishi car sales

Russia has become the world's largest market for Mitsubishi Motors vehicles. In May, the concern sold 7.6 thousand cars in the country - 51 more than in the USA, and 2.9 thousand more than in Japan. At the same time, sales of the brand increased by 124%, over five months - by 163%. Dealers attribute the growth to high demand for Pajero SUVs.

Based on sales results in May, Russia became the largest market for Mitsubishi Motors, reports the official dealer of the concern in the country, Rolf Import. The company sold 7.6 thousand cars here, 124% more than in May 2010. Thus, Mitsubishi sales in Russia outpaced the results of the company's largest markets so far, the USA and Japan, where 7.5 thousand and 4.6 thousand cars were sold, respectively, over the same period. Sales in Japan fell 18% in May due to natural disasters in the country, but in the United States they rose 59%, the best result since May 2008. In 2010, the USA became the largest market for Mitsubishi - the company managed to sell 55.7 thousand cars there.

Rolf Import attributes the sales growth to active demand for Pajero SUVs. “In May of this year, Rolf Import sold 1,175 thousand Pajero IV SUV. During the same period, 809 L200 pickups were sold. Another May record was the sale of 770 Pajero Sport SUVs,” Rolf Import told Kommersant.

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According to the Association of European Businesses (AEB), in 2010, Mitsubishi sales in Russia increased by only 10%, to 45.5 thousand vehicles. The company was in 14th place in the AEB ranking, while the other two brands of the Japanese “big three”, Nissan and Toyota, took seventh and eighth places, respectively. Nissan sales in 2010 amounted to 79.6 thousand cars and showed an increase of 24%, Toyota sales - 79.3 thousand cars and increased by 15%. However, in 2011, Mitsubishi sales showed active growth: in January it amounted to 179%, in February - 314%, in March - 171%, in April - 134%. According to Rolf Import, according to the results of five months, sales growth in Russia amounted to 163%, to 29.4 thousand cars.

Despite the natural disaster in Japan, Mitsubishi did not adjust its sales plans in Russia in 2011: the company plans to increase them by 65%, to 75 thousand cars. Mitsubishi factories in Japan were significantly less affected by the earthquake than those of Toyota and Nissan. The company shut down its factories for just a few days, while Toyota's Japanese plants operated at half capacity until June 3, and Nissan shut down six plants for almost two weeks.

“The Russian market has always been strategic for Mitsubishi. And given that the Japanese market is now stagnating, it is quite natural that sales in Russia have overtaken it,” says Ernst & Young analyst Ivan Bonchev. In his opinion, “based on the results of six months, the Russian market may well retain its leading position for Mitsubishi.” Mikhail Pak from Aton also agrees with this, who believes that “in the USA, competition in the automobile market is much higher than in Russia, so it will be much easier for the Russian market to maintain its leading position.” Although the company's sales in Russia grew by only 10% in 2010, in the first four months of 2011 the company sold almost half of last year's total sales, the analyst notes, so “with a high degree of confidence we can say that the Russian market will remain key for Mitsubishi "

Egor Popov

Russia has surpassed the USA