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NEWS
More Lancer upgrades on the way
Mitsubishi's ageing small car gets more tweaks as wait for replacement goes on... and onThe culling of the Lancer Sportback (hatch) range back to a single 'GSR' model is the start of a round of updates designed to shore up sales of Mitsubishi's stalwart small car until a replacement being designed using Renault-Nissan technology appears in 2015 or beyond.
A revised Model Year '14.5' Lancer sedan lineup rolls out within two weeks, including a boost in presentation in line with a new Mitsubishi Motors Australia's policy of making all models look more upmarket with differentiation based on equipment levels.
The updates will include the ES base model upgrading to the VRX/Ralliart nose, adding a spoiler and side skirts and automatic air-conditioning.
The current generation Lancer has been on-sale since 2007, but endured a dive in popularity in 2013 even as Mitsubishi sales rose dramatically.
Despite substantial discounting Lancer sales dipped 25.5 per cent in 2013 to 11,408 according to VFACTS figures. Year-on-year after two months of 2014 they are down 12 per cent and averaging less than 700 per month.
But Mitsubishi execs harbour an ambition to grow Lancer sales back beyond 1000 per month based on the actions they are taking. They also say supply was choked off in 2013 as the Mizushima plant in Japan where it is built focussed on servicing demand for the co-developed Mitsubishi eK and Nissan Dayz 'kei' cars.
"There are still more changes for Lancer coming from MMC," Mitsubishi Motors Australia marketing executive director Tony Principe said. "There is still volume upside; we think we can get back to 1000 per month and maybe even more per month.
"Last year we sold 11,000 roughly and we think we can get back to 15,000 if we can get standard, normal ongoing supply and do all those changes we think we can grow it a bit more."
The decision to roll the various hatchback variants into a single high-spec $22,990 (plus on-road costs) model using the historic GSR badge was driven by the sedan accounting for 75 per cent of the Lancer sales mix
"Having three or four hatch models didn't make sense for us," Principe admitted. "The sedan has been very successful for us but the hatch has not been as successful as we would have liked.
"We have been continually tweaking and after talking to the dealers we decided we had to come up with a version that was a lot more competitive. So what we have done is come up with the GSR, which is essentially a base car with 18-inch alloys, VRX dress-up kit, 2.4-litre engine, Smart key and rain sensing wipers. It's a pretty good package.
"Because it's a tough segment, the idea is to concentrate on one super-competitive model and see how we go."
The sedan lineup will not be culled like the hatch, with the ES, LX, VRX, Ralliart and Evo all being retained. There is also a chance the GSR will be added to the lineup.
But Principe was non-committal about just what we can expect when the Lancer replacement eventually does arrive. It is known the car will be based on the Renault-Nissan CMF architecture, but how much it will be differentiated from the next Megane or Pulsar is yet to be established.
"We really don't know... This car is not just for us, it's for the US and Europe too. The Lancer is still one of their biggest sellers globally so they need to do a pretty good job and we assume they will."
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Written byBruce Newton
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