It's Not All About Scrappage - Mitsubishi Sales Recover Whilst Scrappage Registrations Decline

CIRENCESTER, UNITED KINGDOM – August 7, 2009: Mitsubishi Motors in the UK has seen its registrations take it into the top ten of retail sales improvements in July – and importantly for the brand and the profitability of its dealers, it’s not down to the government’s scrappage incentive scheme.1

Retail Sales Soar by 57%
July was a great month for Mitsubishi with retail sales soaring by 57% compared to July 2008. More importantly for the brand, and the profitability of its dealer network, the sales have not come from the government supported scrappage scheme.

Scrappage in Decline
Since the scheme was launched in May this year, the company has maintained scrappage registrations at around 20% of its total mix, but July saw this level fall to 16%. The decline in scrappage deals is seen as a positive by Mitsubishi Motors. Its retail share, including the L200 pick-up, which climbed to 40% by the end of July, compared to 31% at June month end, has led to increased profits and a positive mood throughout its dealer network.

Lean and Clean
Another encouraging statistic from the Japanese manufacturer shows that the low emissions technologies, branded ‘ClearTec’, now account for over 5% of all registrations.

Managing Director, Lance Bradley, affirmed that, “We have a great environmental message to tell at Mitsubishi and we are looking forward to the CO2 emission levels of our cars dropping considerably over the coming months. The ClearTec technologies are already on Colt and will soon be coming on many other vehicles in the range – and that’s before you consider the zero-emissions i MiEV electric vehicle, which is here well ahead of the competition”.