Mitsubishi Motors Aims Big, Achieves Big – Gets Hit by a Glitch!

MANILA: The latest news rolling around in the auto world has brought a mixed bag of feelings for the Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors this time. According to the recently revealed data by Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), Mitsubishi grabbed the second position in Q2 sales with a market share of 19.2 percent which was a little less than half of what the leading brand captured. But, leaving that aside, Mitsubishi has a big reason to smile! Mitsubishi Philippines has also floated some data stating that it is growing tremendously in the Philippines automotive market which is pretty evident from the in-house data. The company recorded 22 percent of the growth in the first quarter of 2016 in passenger cars. Impressive indeed!

The company has given credits to the recently launched Mirage 2016 and Mirage G4 2016. Though these cars are still due to arrive in the Filipino showrooms, but the strong demand has already brought a boom to the Mitsubishi sales. Also, the Mitsubishi Montero Sport 2015 and the existing Mirage G4 2015 have been declared the heroes of this saga in the passenger cars segment capturing the third and eighth spots respectively in the Philippines automotive market. The growth is not only reflected in the sales of passenger cars but also in the Light Commercial Vehicles with 24.5 percent and Heavy Commercial Vehicles with 60 percent. So while Mitsubishi Philippines has a reason to smile, there is another news which may give a bad hitch to the automaker!

The news which might interrupt the growing sales figures of this Japanese automaker is its false claims about the fuel economy of its cars. The recent research and tests done on some of the Mitsubishi cars opened up this fraud in the data flaunted by the brand in its promotions. It is observed that Mitsubishi has forged the fuel economy of 4 of its mini-cars - eK Wagon, eK Space, Dayz, and Dayz Roox to promote the sales, as these cars are better known for their fuel efficiency. Though, Dayz and Dayz Roox are traded by Nissan Motors but manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors and so MMC is found guilty for these 2 cars also.

The company has released a clarification notice stating that the difference in fuel economy is due to the variation in norms and no manipulation is done in the data. Though, the discrepancy in data is observed only in Japan-spec models and the entire fleet for the Philippines is clean, the company is now skeptical about the sales. Mitsubishi Philippines, in this regards, has stated that these cars are not offered in the Philippines and the government rules for determining fuel economy is followed while promoting the Mitsubishi fleet in the local market. It would be interesting to see if the company manages the situation well and keep the sales unaffected!

Also Read: Everything You Need to Know About New Mirage 2016