Rebounding Mitsubishi expects North American profitability to surge

TOKYO – Mitsubishi expects North American profitability to soar in the coming year on lower incentives, better foreign exchange rates and robust sales of the Outlander plug-in hybrid crossover.

The upbeat outlook for North America, which should emerge as Mitsubishi's profit engine and second-biggest market after Japan, will help offset crumbling business in China and Europe.

Fortified Internet marketing and online sales are also seen helping Mitsubishi reach North American regional markets where the Japanese carmaker has sparse dealership penetration.

The combined effect will cause North American regional operating profit to more than triple in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, as North America becomes the company's top profit center, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. predicted Tuesday while announcing its latest financial results.

"In North America, despite tight supply caused by semiconductor chip shortages, we introduced the new Outlander in 2021," CFO Koji Ikeda said at a news conference. "Thanks to its product appeal, we have curbed incentive spending and employed digital marketing to make sales more efficient. As a result, our overall sales quality and sales power have improved significantly."

The rollout of the second-generation Outlander, the brand's best-selling U.S. nameplate, has helped Mitsubishi cut U.S. incentives by more than half from historical levels, the company said.

Meanwhile, introduction of the Indonesia-built Xpander utility vehicle to Mexico is helping shore up business in another critical North American market, the company said.

Mitsubishi, which recently kicked off a new midterm business plan targeting global sales of 1.1 million, laid out the vision after it reported rebounding earnings in the latest quarter.

Operating profit climbed 17 percent to 36.8 billion yen ($277.5 million) in the three months ended March 31, while net income rose 29 percent to $285.8 million.

Global wholesale deliveries declined 8.7 percent to 264,000 vehicles in the quarter, with slumping volume in North America, Europe and China contributing to the downturn.

Collapsing sales in China, where deliveries fell by half in the three-month period, have forced Mitsubishi to suspend production there until the end of May at least.

For the full fiscal year ended March 31, operating profit more than doubled to $1.44 billion, from $658.4 million in the year before.

Net income also more doubled to $1.27 billion, from $558.1 million a year earlier.

Worldwide retail sales declined 11 percent to 834,000 vehicles for the full fiscal year, from 937,000 the year before. North American sales declined 15 percent to 133,00 vehicles. Sales in Europe, plunged by 49 percent to 61,000, and China volume fell 41 percent to 48,000.

Despite falling sales, fiscal-year results were boosted by an improved mix of higher-margin vehicles, reduced incentives and foreign exchange rate windfall gains, Mitsubishi said.

Looking ahead to the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, Mitsubishi trimmed its profit outlook. Even though volume is expected to increase, Mitsubishi said economic uncertainty, rising costs and unhelpful foreign exchange rates would hurt the bottom line.

Mitsubishi expects operating profit to decline 21 percent to $1.13 billion for the full fiscal year, as net income slides 41 percent to $754.2 million.

Worldwide retail sales are expected to increase 10 percent to 917,000 vehicles.

Mitsubishi predicts that North American sales will increase 21 percent to 161,000 vehicles this fiscal year. Sales in Europe are seen advancing 33 percent to 81,000.

-- Naoto Okamura contributed to this report.