Mitsubishi's McEniry optimistic

The debut of an entry-level workhorse wouldn't necessarily attract the attention of the 'suits' at some companies. But Mitsubishi Australia's Rob McEniry rarely misses an opportunity to get face to face with the motoring media. Indeed, the man whose impassioned broadside to the industry and media alike at last October's Sydney motor show arguably heralded a change in attitude to the beleagured carmaker, is in his element across the table from the motoring hacks.

And it was an unbeat McEniry that sat down with the Carsales Network's Joe Kenwright at last week's four-cylinder Triton launch to present some insights on the local market and provide a glimpse of what is still to come from Mitsubishi.

As the company's market share climbs steadily from a miserable 5.4 per cent (February 2006) to a healthy 6.0 per cent this year, and with March sales set to be a further 20 per cent higher than in 2006, McEniry has every reason to be in a positive frame of mind.

>> On Mitsubishi's recovery…
While still frustrated with the speculative spotlight on the company, McEniry points to the number of changes achieved in the past nine months in the face of the ongoing rumours about closure. "Normally you don't grow during such a period of turmoil but we did. Market share is up, volume is up and dealer profitability doubled," reported McEniry.

>> On model mix…
"We looked at rivals and decided to move away from a dependency on one or two model ranges." And indeed it has.. Mitsubishi has a balanced portfolio of nearly all new models in the growth segments of the local market with remaining gaps to be closed in 2007 -- starting with the entry level four-cylinder Triton light commercials this month.

"It's not just the local industry that is changing; it is changing dramatically on a global level. The advent of China and India and the alliances between major companies is impacting on local companies," McEniry opined

>> On the large car market…
Fuel prices have impacted on the large car segment but it should flatten out, says the Mitsubishi boss. "The VE Commodore is stabilising the market. There is enormous competition. It always goes into a cycle then comes out of it. We have seen it all before and the industry always comes out stronger.

"Think of the doom and gloom that was around during the Button plan and we came out stronger. The large car segment will always be there globally."

McEniry noted that the way forward for the local industry was to capitalise on this but did not announce any plans for Mitsubishi in this area.

>> On Mitsubishi's dealer network…
"The open points in the Sydney and Melbourne dealer networks have been closed with several now on stream, the remainder opening in the next month."

>> On the mood at the factory…
"The 380 Platinum limited edition has attracted new and younger buyers to the 380. Following local job cuts, customer satisfaction levels were maintained at consistently high rates with no drop in quality which is unusual under these circumstances." McEniry noted that the Tonsley Park workers were particularly enthusiastic prior to the Christmas shutdown with the worst behind them.

>> On March sales statistics…
McEniry was forecasting a huge March with strong sales to the end of the financial year for the market overall. In referencing the magic million new vehicle sales mark, he cautioned that volume may soften off into the second half of 2007 with the coming federal election.

>> On Mitsubishi's dripfeed of new models
McEniry defended Mitsubishi's local launch strategy of releasing new models as ADR-complianced variants became available -- rather than wait for the complete range to be complianced before releasing the range complete.

He says in the imported model ranges, this policy has given Mitsubishi access to new models up to 12 months ahead of the total range being finalised for the Australian market. This policy therefore allowed Mitsubishi to initiate the product-led 'Revolution' turnaround in 2006 rather than wait until 2007.

>> On 2007 plans…
According to chairman Rob the rest of 2007 looks as follows:

>> On a go-fast 380...
McEniry has confirmed that Mitsubishi is "two weeks away" from making a decision on a high-performance variuant of the 380.

The company displayed the Team Mitsubishi Ralliart (TMR) 380 at both the Sydney and Melbourne motor shows and internally, at least, support for a productionised version is very strong. Officially, pricing and ADR compliance issues are still being finalised and as such some of the high cost features on the showcar may not reach final production.

-- with staff

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