More to come from Lancer, but no rush for diesel

Mitsubishi's Lancer small car has received a 'can do better' mark from its main sponsor, Mitsubishi Australia President, Robert McEniry.

With the car on sale in both sedan and hatch variants since the third quarter of 2008, sales volumes are only now reaching levels the local brand boss believes are appropriate. Indeed, while McEniry says the last few months of sales were "where we think we should be" he still contends there's adjustments needed in Lancer's model mix before he'll be happy.

"One could say bad timing," McEniry commented, referring to the arrival of the hatch version of Mitsubishi's small car segment entrant in mid-2008.

"[But] Our expectations and our objective with the hatch has not been delivered yet," the Mitsubishi boss told the Carsales Network.

"As the [Yen v $A] exchange rate came off [deteriorated], we were very careful to manage our model line-up in terms of profitability and so we pulled back quite a bit on [volume on] the entry level car. That now we have changed -- we think the car's got a hell of a lot more opportunity and still do, and we're looking at ways of shifting the mix."

According to McEniry, plans had the Lancer sedan versus hatch around 50:50. He says it's still closer to 60:40, though overall volumes have grown.

"Overall [Lancer's July VFACTs sale run rate] is where we think we should be, but we'd like to change the mix of the body styles.

"The [Lancer] hatch is a different [sort of hatch]. We thought it would appeal to a broader group... Every one else has a fairly 'flat-backed' hatch and we though the utility [of the Sportback design] may offer some other opportunity and I still think it will," McEniry opined.

One opportunity might be a diesel offering, but McEniry is in no rush to fill it. And not just because international demand is limiting Mitsubishi's diesel production...

"It [demand] has delayed Outlander diesel into production... [But] It hasn't changed our [overall] plans. We actually think going forward -- beyond the scope we're talking about now -- that you're going to see gasoline engines with efficiency and CO2 [emissions] that'll blow away [current diesels].

That doesn't rule out a turbodiesel Lancer, however. McEniry says he's like to have a diesel option in each of the company's local car lines "so we don't miss that vibe".

"We'll introduce diesels when they are cost effective for us," he says.

"They are a premium -- so if the petrol engines can catch up much faster [in terms of efficiency] we'd probably balance it out."

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi