Mitsubishi Hopes to Increase Sales by Adding Dealerships and Investing in Marketing

During 2018, Mitsubishi celebrated a record year of sales, with more than 118,000 Mitsubishi models purchased. According to Fred Diaz, the president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North America, that growth is only the beginning.

Mitsubishi plans on increasing sales in the upcoming years by adding more dealers and spending more on marketing.

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As it stands, Mitsubishi has a total of 367 dealerships. 45 of those dealers were added to the Mitsubishi dealership network during 2018.

Mitsubishi would like to see the number of enrolled dealership increase even more. While Diaz is not expecting to have 650 enrolled dealerships like Mitsubishi had in its network back in the early 2000s, he is optimistic about the number of dealerships landing right around 500.

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Of course, new dealerships won’t be enough to increase sales and profits for Mitsubishi. Diaz states that the brand will have to step up its marketing as well.

Taking on brands like Ford and Toyota in the realm of traditional marketing is not a task that Mitsubishi is up for. Instead, Mitsubishi will focus on digital marketing, where the playing field is more even.

The ultimate goal is to double Mitsubishi’s sales in three to four years. While this task may seem daunting, Diaz states that Mitsubishi is up to the challenge.

Still, the CEO cautions that Mitsubishi isn’t aiming for growth just for the sake of growing larger. Instead, Mitsubishi seems rather comfortable with its status as a small, but growing player in the automotive realm.

“We aspire to be what I would classify as small and beautiful,” Diaz explains. “A small company, not necessarily one that does over a million units a year, but also one that has dealers and a corporation that have beautiful financial statements.”

News Source: CNET