Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC), the country’s second largest car company, posted record annual sales volume of 81,473 units for fiscal year (FY) 2023 or 34 percent higher than the 60,630 units sold in FY 2022. It is, however, targeting slower sales growth of 15 percent or 96,000 units for FY 2024.

Cesar S. Ramirez Jr., MMPC vice-president for sales and marketing told reporters at the turnover ceremony for the Japanese company’s new local leader on Monday, April 22, that its growth last year was driven by its new breed of sub-compact sports utility vehicle Xpander and its locally-produced vehicle vehicles.

The Xpander, Mirage and Mirage G4, and the L300 emerged as the top selling models, leading the sales charts for MMPC. With the higher production capacity of its plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, MMPC was able to produce CKD (completely knocked down) units and sell 26,139 units of Mirage and 13,101 units of L-300. The Xpander has also been hailed as the bestselling multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) this year with its 24,178 unit sales volumes.

Although their sales growth target this year is slower than its actual growth in FY 2023, Ramirez said it would still translate to a 20 percent market share of the industry’s sales target and higher than its 18 percent market share in FY 2023. MMPC fiscal year is from March to April.

“Xpander is still our top seller followed by our locally produced Mirage and Mirage G4 models and L-300,” he said.

Ramirez said that Xpander would still be its main growth driver and is expected to sustain its monthly sales of 2,200 units.

He said they just aim to sustain Xpander’s performance given the stiff competition in this segment, but the growth would still ensure Xpander’s 45.6 percent market share and leadership in its vehicle segment.

“We’re also doing good in our Mirage and Mirage G4,” he said. Mirage and G4 are MMPC’s enrolled models under the government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program.

Likewise, its locally produced L-300 is a market leader with 43.3 percent share of the market.

In addition, its newly launched pickup the all-new Triton is expected to contribute 1,000 units a month in sales.

“In general, we want to sustain the monthly average for noting that both models got a 33.3 percent market share for our existing models,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ramirez said they achieved the highest production volume of 45,598 units in FY 2023. “It is the highest ever the factory has achieved, we were not selling this much then,” he said.

Ramirez, however, noted that the possible implementation of excise tax on pickups could deter sales. He said that industry experts expect the implementation of the excise tax on pickups by September this year or upon resumption of Congress. The excise tax is seen to hike the price of pickup models by 20 percent.