Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Enjoys Best April Sales Month Ever
Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) has reported April 2017 sales of 8,375 vehicles, down about 15% compared to April 2016. However, total calendar-year sales for the company are still up 7.6% compared to last year at this time, thanks in part to the exceptional sales performance of the Mitsubishi s lineup in March.
That’s not to say Mitsubishi had nothing to be happy about in April: once again, the Outlander and Outlander Sport, the cornerstones of the brand’s offerings, carried the rest along for the sales ride. The Outlander SUV performed exactly as well as it had last year while the Outlander Sport crossover was up 2.8%, setting a new April record on sales of 2,688 units. Overall, Mitsubishi’s CUV year-to-date sales are currently up 15.9% over 2016.
Related: 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander safety features earn IIHS Top Safety Pick award
The slump in the rest of the lineup could probably have been expected. As the aging Lancer reaches production death, fewer and fewer customers are flocking to the dealerships to get their hands on the car as they had when it was new.
That being said, the drop in Mirage sales is somewhat surprising, given its historically strong performances and that it was recently named the most affordable car to lease in the United States. Even after two consecutive months of struggles, however, the Mirage is still up on a year-to-date basis.
Don Swearingen, MMNA’s executive VP, said earlier this year the brand was targeting 100,000 sales in 2017. They’re on target for now, but with the Lancer ending production soon, they’ll quickly need to get the Outlander PHEV out onto the market to meet the target, as the highly-awaited and all-new Eclipse Cross won’t hit showrooms before early 2018.
Related: Learn more about the 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
April | YTD | |||
2017 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | |
i‐MiEV | 2 | 6 | 6 | 14 |
Mirage | 2136 | 3302 | 9606 | 9534 |
Lancer | 832 | 1023 | 6053 | 6477 |
Outlander Sport | 2688 | 2614 | 9552 | 10312 |
Outlander | 2717 | 2729 | 12305 | 8549 |
Total | 8375 | 9674 | 37522 | 34886 |
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