We always knew that those car makers who did not take serious interest in India were going to face the consequences and Mitsubishi is one such manufacturer who never took off. This might be changing in the months to come as the excellent Outlander will be followed up with freshened up versions of the Lancer and the new Lancer.

To revive declining sales Hindustan Motors is planning to launch new variants of its sedan in the coming months, even as it unveiled Mitsubishi Corporation’s sports utility vehicle Outlander here. The company will also launch a new commercial vehicle on a similar platform to its current RTV model, a top company official said.

“We plan to launch Cedia and Lancer with new features and that will boost sales,” said Mr C.K. Birla, Chairman, Hindustan Motors, at the launch of the new vehicle. He, however, declined to give a timeframe by when it would introduce the new models.

“In case of the new commercial vehicle based on the RTV platform, the launch would be in the next six-eight weeks,” said Mr R. Santhanam, Managing Director of the company.

Sales under pressure

Mr Birla said that last month sales were under pressure but from January onwards outlook should look better.

While the company’s sales in the sedan segment during April-August fell 23 per cent to 3,637 units, sales of Pajero rose 46 per cent to 1,022 units.

At Rs 20.2 lakh, Hindustan Motors expects to sell 100 units of the Outlander monthly. The company will assemble the Vehicle in its Chennai plant, where its other cars are also presently being assembled.

IAB

Source : Cyber Steering