Mazda, Mitsubishi post first-half loss
October 30, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Although the global car market is beginning to show signs of recovery, some manufacturers are still suffering the effects of the Global Economic Downturn.
Two such companies are Japanese manufacturers Mazda and Mitsubishi, both posting half-year net losses over night.
As Japan’s fourth and fifth largest manufacturers respectively, the pair cited falling sales and the strong value of the yen for the loss.
Mazda reported a net loss of US$230 million – down from a profit of $325 million a year earlier – with a sales dip of 21 per cent in North America alone. European sales for the brand were down 31 per cent for the period between April and September.
However, it’s not all bad news for Mazda with strong sales in China actually growing by 35 per cent over the same time-frame.
In total, Mazda expects a full-year loss of $187 million.
Mitsubishi faced a similar dilemma with net profits some US$403 million in the red. The brand also suffered slow sales in the period with North American markets down by 35 per cent.
European sales were also slower than usual for Mitsubishi with a tumble of 44 per cent on the year prior.
In its home country of Japan, Mitsubishi fared much better with sales sliding only 8 per cent over the half-year period.
Despite its global sales declines, Mitsubishi says it expects to post a yearly profit of US$55 million.
Print it: 
Smiling all the time is not good ~!
hahhaha yes indeed the basking shark mouthed M3 will need an updated front end if they want to sell more cars.
my god its hideous…. yet the 6 is so pretty?
they have lost the styling plot like SUBARU has?
t, its called Mazda3, not M3. BMW has nothing to do with this thread!
They need to update the front end to sell more?! Are you kidding? Its the 3rd best selling car in the country, outselling the Falcon by over 500 units and only 46 units (september) behind the perrenial fleet sl#t, the Corolla.
It would seem a lot of people dont agree with you. I agree with you about the 6 though, even the 1st gen 6 still looks good.
I spoke to somebody from Mazda and he admitted the 3 isn’t selling as many as they expected. The smiling face may have been the culprit, but what bothers me most is the smallish rear doors that make ingress and egress difficult and result to poor legroom. The sedan’s trunk opening is also peculiar it won’t be able to swallow wide loads. I don’t think two inches extra on the wheelbase would have ruined the original 3’s dynamics, and yes if not for that, it would be my car now.
Mitsubishi are now counting a lot on the Lancer’s great looks to stay alive. The company suffered a lot due to a lack of a bigger car following the 380’s demise. The Colt is outclassed by several rivals and the Triton beaten by the Hilux. I bought the Lancer because its space at the back is relatively good and the Corolla auto can only offer a bland design, torsion beams and 4 speeds. The Civic has a drooping nose that makes bumper-to-bumper traffic more of a pain and I don’t like the separate triangle glasses in front of the windows. The Focus is nearing replacement and the Impreza is impressively hideous and both only have four cogs as well. The new Cruze simply doesn’t have a competitive engine in performance and economy, and it’s from a company that doesn’t love its ‘fellow Aussies’ back.
Despite that, many people are still turned off on the Lancer because of its near-Korean plastics, lack of reach adjustment and poor paintwork. Mitsubishi could have made a class leader but may have fallen short due to these issues.
Mazda sales in Australia are still strong and they’ve lifted their end-of-year sales target. I would think that Mazda Australia is doing OK. They might have hoped to do even better from the launch of the new 3, especially with the amount of advertising they’re doing, but there’s limits to how many non-fleet buyers there are for a car in that segment and the 3 is already getting the biggest share of them. Seems like the strategy is to build a halo via the new 3 MPS and go after the buy-a-Lancer-want-an-Evo market.