Japanese car-maker Mitsubishi expects to sell around 30,000 vehicles in the Gulf this year compared with 28,000 last year, a senior official was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.
"Saudi Arabia and the UAE will continue to be our dominant markets and the signs are that we will hit our targets," said Katsuya Onoda, deputy general manager at Mitsubishi's liaison office for the Middle East, which opened in Dubai in March.
Sales are evenly split between passenger and commercial vehicles, said the paper.
However, the official declined to comment on new Mitsubishi launches this year.
"Our overseas sales have not been affected by any of the issues that Mitsubishi had to face in Japan, such as the recall for faulty parts. The impact from these issues were to a large extent confined to the Japanese domestic market," said Onoda.
This year, gains are expected to come through from the new Lancer.
Prices of the extensively remodeled 2001 version, available in 1.3 and 1.6 liters.
"This year, we should sell about 8,000 Lancers in the Gulf compared with 5,500 last year and 4,000 odd the year before,” said the official.
In the UAE, we expect about 200 units a month and 300 in Saudi Arabia," added Onoda.
Among Japanese makes, the Lancer lines up against the Sunny from Nissan, Corolla and Echo from Toyota, Civic and City from Honda, said the Gulf News – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
