THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 19, 2023 at 18:10 JST
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s Outlander sport utility vehicle (Provided by Mitsubishi Motors)
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will pull out of the Chinese market after being unable to keep up with the major shift to electric vehicles there.
Stagnant sales led to production suspension in March at the company’s plant in Hunan province, but with no expected turnaround in sight, the company will leave China after selling the rest of its current inventory.
Mitsubishi Motors is expected to announce it will not resume production in China by the end of October.
Other Japanese automakers that depend on gasoline vehicles have also faced difficulties in China.
Mitsubishi Motors established a joint venture with a local firm in the 1990s to bolster production and sales in China.
In 2012, Mitsubishi Motors set up a different joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. and trading firm Mitsubishi Corp.
In fiscal 2018, Mitsubishi Motors sold about 141,000 vehicles in China, but the rapid shift to electric vehicles and the limited lineup of cars offered led to fewer sales for the automaker.
The company only sold about 33,000 vehicles in China in fiscal 2022.
Sources said the joint venture will be dissolved, and Guangzhou Automobile Group will use the plant in Hunan province.
Mitsubishi Motors is expected to concentrate its capital resources in the Southeast Asian market instead.
Last year, about 20 percent of all new vehicles sold in China were electric.
Sales of electric vehicles continue to grow in China, spelling trouble for other Japanese automakers, such as Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.
(This article was written by Kohei Kondo and Takumi Wakai.)
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