Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which has its North American base in Cypress, is hoping for a 2% slice of the U.S. auto market, its top official here said Monday.
“In terms of market share, if we can have 1% to 2%, we can be comfortable,” Richard Gilligan, chief executive of Mitsubishi Motors North America, told Reuters at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Mitsubishi saw its U.S. sales drop 23% in 2005 to 123,995 vehicles, giving it a 0.7% share. A few years ago, Mitsubishi had about 2% of the market, before its easy credit policies came back to haunt it.
Demand also was driven by unprofitable sales to rental car companies, Gilligan said. They used to make up a third of Mitsubishi Motors’ sales compared to about 10% now.
Mitsubishi has been showing off and on signs of a comeback. The company’s U.S. sales fell 13% in December after three up months.
