Automotive News Europe - Talk From The Top Supplement - December 2019 - 25

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

TALK FROM THE TOP

France is a
bit like Germany
in that demand
for the plug-in
hybrid has completely
exploded.

In the first nine months, Mitsubishi's
sales were up 51 percent in Italy and
40 percent in France. What is driving
sales in those markets?
We have to admit that we started from
a low base. France is a bit like Germany
in that demand for the plug-in hybrid has
completely exploded. We have sold 4,000
units compared with 1,000 units during
the same time period 12 to 15 months
ago. The increase in Italy is driven by demand for the Space Star [minicar].
One thing worrying government official throughout Europe is that many
plug-in hybrids aren't being plugged in,
so they seldom run on electric power.
Do you have evidence they are?
We have internal studies, and it's clear almost all the cars are plugged in. Our owners charge at least once every three days.
How do you know that?
We conducted a survey.

SUV] and launched a new 2.0-liter gaso- the perception of SUVs but the customline version with 4wd and an automatic er demand is there, especially for lowgearbox.
emissions SUVs. The Outlander plug-in
hybrid is proving that.
When will you get rid of the Eclipse
Cross diesel?
Is there anything to report on future
That will probably go by the end of 2020. synergies Mitsubishi will have as
part of the Renault-Nissan alliance?
The Space Star/Mirage is a strong
seller, but it has been around since The synergies are behind the scenes.
2012. Will that continue or will tough- This could include purchasing and comer emissions requirements force you ponent sharing but it's not things that
are visible for the consumer.
to discontinue it?
The emissions are tough, but we are Your cars are either built in Japan or
competitive in this segment and sales of in Thailand. Does that expose you to
the car are rising. We will continue mak- geo-political headwinds?
ing the car. We will even have a product There are some tensions globally. The
update in the near future.
trade war between China and the U.S. is
Do you still sell the i-MiEV electric creating some currency volatility and we
are facing slowdowns in markets outside
minicar in Europe?
Only in select countries such as Norway of Europe. The international environand Switzerland. We said we would have ment today is a bit more bumpy than a
a new electric car. We have not dis- year ago and we are monitoring the exclosed when, but the direction we are change rate. At the moment the yen and
even the Thai baht have been stronger
going is plug-in hybrid, hybrid and EV.
than the euro. That is something we are
Will Mitsubishi meet the tougher EU looking at very carefully.
CO2 emissions target that starts to
Does that affect your profits?
take effect next year?
Since 45 percent of our mix is under It does. This is a global issue. Exposure
95 grams of CO2 per kilometer we are to currency has a direct impact on profOK for 2020. We benefit from the plug-in its and it's up to us to react. We have to
live with this. It was a bit adverse during
hybrid being at 46g/km.
the first part of the fiscal year.
Does rising backlash against SUVs in
Do you react by changing prices?
Europe worry you?
SUVs are part of our DNA as 77 percent We try to think about consumers first.
of our sales in the nine months to Sep- We believe we can manage this withtember, including L200 pickup, were out applying the forex changes to our
ANE
SUVs. We have to be conscious about retail price.

When will Mitsubishi add another
plug-in hybrid and what is your longterm goal for electrification?
In the second half of next year we will
have a replacement of the current Outlander. It will be on an alliance platform.
There also will be another smaller SUV
coming at the same time.
Last year your diesel mix was less
than 20 percent excluding the L200
pickup. What is it now?
It's almost nothing - excluding the pickup. We only have a diesel version of the
Eclipse Cross [compact SUV] available
in a few markets. The diesel mix of that
is about 5 percent, and Eclipse Cross is
about 20 percent of our overall sales,
so it's 5 percent of 20 percent. It's very
marginal, so we have decided to go gasoline and electrified only in the future.
We stopped the diesel ASX [compact

2019

In Partnership with

Mitsubishi is on pace to sell 36,000 Outlander plug-in hybrids in
Europe this year, up from 20,000 in 2018.

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Automotive News Europe - Talk From The Top Supplement - December 2019

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