Mitsubishi aims higher as its opens new plant

By Aida Sevilla-Mendoza February 24,2015

BY ACQUIRING and recently moving to the former Ford assembly plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) signaled its determination to aim for a higher target in the automotive industry.
To optimize media mileage, MMPC timed its move from its old assembly plant in Cainta to Sta. Rosa on Jan. 29, shortly after reporting a 16 percent increase in sales in 2014 to 50,085 units compared to 43,176 in 2013, thus retaining the No. 2 spot in the auto sales race.

It was the eighth consecutive year of sales growth for MMPC and the first-time sales surpassed the 50,000 milestone. MMPC’s best sellers last year were the Mirage subcompact hatchback/sedan and the Montero Sport midsize SUV.

MMPC holds the distinction of a steady business presence in the Philippines totaling more than 50 years, never abandoning the automotive industry here and continuing to manufacture motor vehicles at its Cainta plant, which was opened in 1964.
In fact, MMPC was the first industry player to achieve the half-million cumulative production mark by rolling out 581,671 units in Cainta over the years.  MMPC assembles the Adventure compact SUV and the ever-popular L300 multipurpose van.
Now, at the retooled Sta. Rosa assembly plant, MMPC will build a stamping plant to produce car door panels and hoods.  It’s a given that MMPC will ramp up the assembly of vehicles from CKD (completely knocked down) packs since the Sta. Rosa plant has the capacity to assemble 50,000 units compared to 30,000 at the Cainta plant.
MMPC’s parent company in Japan, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., is investing P2 billion for the stamping plant.
MMPC president Hikosaburo Shibata told reporters at the sidelines of the Sta. Rosa inauguration that originally, the plan was to invest P10 billion to expand operations, but this was replaced with the purchase of the former Ford assembly plant and the decision to build a P2-billion stamping plant pending the release of the government’s long-anticipated Comprehensive Auto Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program.
For 2015, MMPC aims to sell 62,000 vehicles out of the 310,000 total unit sales projected by the auto industry this year.
The 62,000 represents a 24 percent increase over 2014’s sales. Indeed, MMPC is so bullish that it is targeting 100,000 unit sales by 2020, only five years from now.
MMPC will introduce three new models this year after launching the all-new ASX compact crossover and the 2015 Pajero premium midsize SUV in 2014.
The scuttlebutt is that a revamped Strada pickup truck and refreshed Montero Sport will be unveiled by MMPC this year.  Or will it be a new Lancer EX, the current iteration of which used to be assembled in Cainta?
Meanwhile, Shibata has observed that of the 270,000 total unit sales last year, only 60,000-70,000 were locally assembled CKDs.
Perhaps he was hinting that at its new Sta. Rosa facilities, MMPC will assemble a new model to increase the total number of locally assembled CKDs in the Philippines.
Whether this pushes through or not, one thing is sure: MMPC is serving notice that far from resting on its laurels as the No. 2 player in the auto industry, it is aiming higher.  And higher is No. 1.

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