Mitsubishi expects robust sales of Strada in 2015; launch of new model set in March

MANILA, Philippines–Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) expects to more than double the sales this year of its all new Strada pickup, which will be launched next month.

MMPC vice president for marketing services Froilan Dytianquin confirmed the planned launch as parent firm, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. of Japan, had announced earlier this week the rollout of the all-new Triton pickup truck from its assembly facility in Thailand.

In the Philippines, the Triton is marketed as the Strada.

“(The all-new Strada) was actually introduced first in Thailand and we are the first left-hand drive market to launch it since our pick-up sales volume comes after Thailand and Indonesia,” Dytianquin said Thursday in a text message.

“We are looking at selling around 7,000 units this year. Last year, we sold around 3,000 units of the Strada,” he added.

In a separate statement, MMC said this model, considered one of the company’s best-selling nameplates, had been developed to be the “ultimate sport utility truck, combining comfortable interior space of a passenger car with the functionality and reliability of a pickup.”

The all-new Triton went on sale in Thailand in November 2014, and MMC plans to roll out the all-new Triton starting in the Philippines, then sequentially in the Asean, Oceania, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Latin America, and eventually will be exported to some 150 countries.

MMPC is expected to launch two other models this year, as it moves to strengthen its hold on the automotive market.

The company forecasted sales to increase by 24 percent this year to a total of 62,000 units, from 50,085 units sold in 2014.

Last month, MMPC captured 17.38 percent of the market, having sold 3,243 units.

Of this volume, the commercial vehicle segment contributed 76 percent or 2,454 units, while passenger cars accounted for 24 percent at 789 units.–Amy R. Remo