Mitsubishi aims for 'sustainable' share

MITSUBISHI Motors Australia Ltd has decided not to force market growth by pushing cars into dealerships, opting instead for steady market share increases over the longer term.

With a caveat that there will be disruption to sales due to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami by mid-year, senior management has told GoAuto that forcing market share would create a “backlash” in the market and that it would instead pursue sustained share growth in Australia.

MMAL’s incoming president and CEO, Genichiro Nishina, said the transition from local manufacturer to total importer was achieved without loss of share by careful management of products and price points.

He said that in his view the company should plan on steady growth in Australia without forcing the market by loading excess vehicles into dealerships.

“If we hit seven, eight or nine per cent market share, we will probably see a backlash later on, so therefore we are pursuing very sustainable growth,” Mr Nishina told us. “Currently we are 6.3 per cent market share and we will increase that to 6.5 and then 6.7.

He said MMAL would have a series of replacement products coming in from late 2012 to 2013 “that will be a key driver to gain market share”.

“With those new products available we are expecting real market share growth up to possibly 7.5 per cent,” he said.

Asked if MMC had a policy of forcing growth by oversupplying dealers with cars, outgoing MMAL president and CEO Masahiko Takahashi said: “While the plant was running in Adelaide, I cannot deny that. But once we became an importer, the plant in Japan is reasonably well managed at a certain level of throughput and therefore we run the business naturally.”

But Mr Takahashi said that any “oversupply situation” would be reversed as soon as June or July.

He added that there “will definitely be supply shortages in Australia” due to the earthquake in Japan and that “excess stock in Australia could be cleaned out in one or two months’ time and probably after that the supply will be totally short”.

Mr Nishina said that the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation was carefully assessing the impact of the disaster and that the “outlook changed very much for the worst” as more information about vital tier four and five suppliers emerged.

“MMC’s plants were away from the earthquake area, but not its suppliers. I hope there will not be a severe problem,” he said.