54.7 F
Laguna Hills
Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
-Advertisement-

Mitsubishi Reports Down April

Orange County-based automakers reported higher April auto sales on Tuesday, except for Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., which continues to wrestle with steep sales declines.

Mitsubishi said it sold 9,230 vehicles in April, down 43% from the year-ago period. In March, Mitsubishi sold 12,477 vehicles.

A unit of Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the automaker has been struggling to reverse slumping sales for the past year. Part of the recent decline has come from fewer sales to rental agencies.

The automaker grew fast here from 1998 to 2002 but saw its strategy of easy credit and marketing to younger drivers backfire three years ago in the form of bad loans.

Other Asian automakers with U.S. bases here fared better.

Irvine’s Mazda North American Operations, a unit of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp., sold 22,249 vehicles in April, up 2.6% from 2004.

Mazda’s car sales keyed gains, rising 6.7% to 17,334, versus a year ago. The automaker’s truck sales dropped 9.5% to 4,915 from a year ago.

Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America saw its last month U.S. sales rise 16.9% to 40,958 compared to a year ago.

The company, a unit of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co., sold 35,045 vehicles in April 2004.

Kia Motors America of Irvine said it sold 27,158 units in April, a 15.9% increase from a year ago. Kia, part of Kia Motors Corp. in South Korea, said the April results are the company’s best ever in the U.S.

Hyundai Motor and other Hyundai units own a majority of Kia, which is run independently.

Brea’s American Suzuki Motor Corp. saw its April sales jump 11% from a year ago. American Suzuki, a unit of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp., sold 8,084 vehicles last month.

The automaker sold 7,041 vehicles in April 2004.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-