2005 June - A Joke
Mitsubishi! > Cars > Sales > USA > 2005 > June Sales
Also see Mitsubishi June 2004 sales for reference.
Mitsubishi in Free Fall - Down 15 percent
Contrary to impression one might get from Mitsubishi's press release, MMC America had another bad month of car sales. It sold 10,621 autos including cars and SUVs which compared to its 2004 June sales figure of 12,301 is about 15 percent decline. This decline is more glaring because 2005 June was one of the best sales month ever for the US Auto industry and also Mitsubishi seems to have spent a fortune promoting its autos especially its 2006 Eclipse line without much success apparently. A case of bad Karma, perhaps.
If one excludes its heavily-promoted 2006 Eclipse cars which sold 2,140 units compared to 1,358 units last year's June month, it sold 8,481 units which is a decline of roughly 23 percent from 10,943 non-Eclipse units sold in June of 2004. Considering that June 2006 had one extra selling day compared to June 2004, it indicates a decline of about 27 percent in terms of units sold per selling day.
In a separate article we shall write more about 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse and its apparent market failure. Last year Mitsubishi launched its 2005 Galant with lots of promotion. It resulted in initial sales boost but now its sales are sliding as rest of Mitsubishi's line. We expect Eclipse sales to follow similar pattern.
Mitsubishi's PR - A Case Study in Obfuscation
From its PR: 'Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA) today reported total June 2005 U.S. sales of 10,621 units. Retail sales are up 2 percent from the same month last year. Led by the outstanding sales performance of the all-new 2006 Eclipse in a very competitive market, this is the first time in almost three years retail sales have increased year over year for Mitsubishi Motors.'
FACT: We saw that total sales were down 15 percent. Notice the use of the term 'Retail' that seems to exclude fleet sales to rental companies etc. Moreover, the standard in auto industry is to use sales per sales day and since 2005 June had one extra sales day, the net effect was 2 percent decrease in retail sales per selling day.
'Sales increases for the month were led by the Eclipse with 2,140 units sold -- up 35 percent from last month's volume.'
FACT: MMC seems to compare sales with last year, sometimes with the previous month. Mitsubishi, please make up your mind.
'We are 'thrilled' with the successful launch of the new Eclipse,' said David Schembri, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Mitsubishi Motors North America. 'This combined with our year over year increase in retail sales is a solid indication that Mitsubishi has turned the corner in the U.S. market.'
FACT: Turned the corner! HahaHaHa.