Mitsubishi rides high on all-new Mirage’s pre-order success

November 16 is perhaps the most awaited date at Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. This is the date when the Japanese automotive giant will finally release to the Philippine market the all-new Mirage.

Even more excited was MMPC president and CEO Hikosaburo Shibata who during last week’s MMPC Media-Bankers Cup at The Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club announced that the public’s response to the recent pre-selling activities for the 1.2-liter sub-compact hatch was very encouraging.

“The all-new Mirage went on display beginning October 19 at selected dealerships nationwide. Customers who were not able to catch a glimpse of the all-new Mirage during its sneak preview at the 4th Philippine International Motor Show last August in Pasay City and during the road tour that followed now had the opportunity to inspect the car up close,” he said.

Encouraging

The result was indeed encouraging as more than a thousand all-new Mirage got reserved for the mid-November sale.

The all-new Mirage pre-order exclusive offers a P40,000 pre-order incentive for those who will place their reservation until Wednesday. The pre-order exclusive is in the form of a P25,000 outright markdown from the suggested retail price and P15,000 to be used for the all-new Mirage genuine accessories. The all-new Mirage suggested retail prices range from P498,000 for the manual (base model) GLX to P638,000 for the top-of-the-line continuously variable transmission equipped GLS.

Customers who availed of this all-new Mirage pre-order exclusive just made a P10,000 refundable deposit and also entitled them to a pre-order coupon that would give them a chance to win an all-new manual Mirage GLX in a raffle draw that will be held on Jan. 13, 2013.

Of the more than a thousand units pre-ordered, around 50 percent were reservations from Metro Manila. Twenty six percent came from other parts of Luzon, 20 percent were buyers from the Visayas while the remainder came from Mindanao.

Great turnout

Citimotors chairman and president Paul Ching told the Inquirer that they already have at least 200 bookings at their Makati and Las Piñas dealerships.

“The trend is very good and we’re hoping for a good end to the year with this new model unit,” he said.

SFM Sales Lipa SVP and GM Joseph Alcantara said that at the moment his Lipa dealership alone already got 45 reservations. “Majority of them are for the all-new Mirage’s top-of-the-line model. We just finished our display of the all-new Mirage at SM Lipa City and we had a great turnout of customers appreciating the return of the Mirage,” he said.

Rene Poro, AVP for Operations of Fast Autoworld Philippines Corp. (Cebu), also reported that most of their customers who booked were female buyers who prefer (62 percent) the more convenient but slightly more expensive CVT variants.

“A significant number were those looking for a second car either for their wife or child or those who wanted to own a car for the first time and prefers to buy one that offers a much lower maintenance cost,” Poro said.

Jon Fernandez of Diamond Auto Group, a major dealer of Mitsubishi brand of vehicles in the country, said that their customers are very excited with the all-new Mirage considering that the badge has a strong name recall.

Nostalgic

“While most of those who reserved were ages between 18 to 30, we have a significant number of customers who belong to a much older age bracket and who used to drive or own the old mirage in the ’80s. We also remember that because of the old Mirage, Mitsubishi was able to dominate compact segment of the ’80s up to the early ’90s. Mitsubishi has been absent in this segment for the longest time and now that it is back with a very good looking and affordable 1.2 engine, we look forward in a much stronger sales performance,” said Fernandez.

The all-new Mirage is MMPC’s entry to the Philippines’ sub-compact passenger car segment.

Mitsubishi’s latest global eco-car features an excellent fuel economy—23.2 kpl to 27.2 kpl—thanks in part to its very efficient yet relatively powerful (77 hp at 6,000 rpm and 100 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm) three-cylinder DOHC Mivec (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control) engine.

“Introducing a small car has long been part of our plans and we were waiting for the perfect model to compete in the sub-compact car segments. Finally, we have it here and our introduction timing could not be better. With the all-new Mirage’s superior qualities like superb fuel efficiency and stylish compact design, we at MMPC believe that the all-new Mirage is a car that will be loved by many,” Shibata said.

He also added that MMPC is well on track in attaining another milestone in our history—selling not less than 36,600 units this year and maintaining a market share of 20 percent, this will mark the company’s highest annual sales since 1996.

“This will be a very good start as we mark our 50th year of operations in the Philippine automotive industry next year,” Shibata said.