Mitsubishi: worst month of sales for Adelaide-built 380 sedan an "anomaly."
Just 658 of the model were sold new in August, more than 38 per cent down on the 1069 in the same month last year. The previous lowest sales month was June last year when 719 cars were sold.
The car was launched in October, 2005. Up to 1650 cars a month were sold in the early days of the model's release.
In releasing its Vfacts figures, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries reported record August sales of new cars and commercial vehicles.
The 88,206 sold was 6545, or 8 per cent, more than August last year and beat the best August 2005 by 2029.
Mitsubishi Motors Australia management yesterday said it was “not happy” with August's 380 sales.
“But it is not a trend. It is an anomaly,” corporate affairs manager Lenore Fletcher said. She said a changeover from Series II to the upgraded Series III model 380 in the month had left some variants unavailable.
Ms Fletcher said the low for 380 sales was not to be interpreted that the end was in sight for production at the Tonsley Park plant.
“We are quite confident sales will be back up in September and October. We don't expect that (low figure) to continue,” she said.
The Vfacts figures show the new Toyota Corolla small car came close to knocking off the Holden Commodore as Australia's biggest selling car last month. Third most popular was the Toyota HiLux ute. The Mazda3 is ahead of the Ford Falcon in year-to-date sales.
