Mitsubishi Philippines sales up 19 percent in February

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines is experiencing an upswing as the Japanese carmaker saw its February sales go up by 19 percent compared to January, giving it a modest 1.5-percent growth so far in 2012.

Mitsubishi Philippines sold 2,751 units last month to give the carmaker a year-to-date sales figure of 5,062 units. Helping to make up the numbers for Mitsubishi Philippines' growth is its continued success in the light-commercial-vehicle category as sales are up by 19.1 percent with 2,591 units sold to capture a 35.4-percent share of the market. In the same period last year, Mitsubishi Philippines' sales only increased by 5.1 percent.

Continuing to lead Mitsubishi Philippines' sales is the Montero Sport with 951 units, up by 25.63 percent from January, to maintain its hold as the best-selling midsize sport-utility vehicle in the market today. The Strada, meanwhile, dominated the double-cab-pickup segment with 446 units representing an increase of 31.2 percent.  Philippine-made models like the L300 and Adventure also saw their numbers go up by 8.0 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

With improving demand and recovering supply specially from Thailand, combined with the aggressiveness of its financing and bank partners, Mitsubishi Philippines is optimistic that sales will continue to surge for the rest of 2012.

"To support this growth, MMPC will be banking on the new model and variants to be introduced as well as opening of additional dealership outlets for this year," said Hikosaburo Shibata, president and chief executive of Mitsubishi Philippines.