Japan based leading car maker Mitsubishi Motors has announced on Tuesday that the company will launch its first ever small car in India within coming three years. The new Mitsubishi small car is currently under development at company’s Thailand unit. In India, the new small car will be placed in the B+ segment where it will be taking on with the likes of Maruti Swift and Ritz, Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai i20, Nissan Micra and Fiat Punto.
The new small car of the company has been dubbed the ‘Mitsubishi Global Car’. It is expected to be carrying 2 engine options including 1.0L and a 1.2L powertrains. For the development of this small car, Mitsubishi is utilizing its 3rd plant in Thailand which is situated next to its other two plants. As announced by the company, the new Global car will be rolled-out from its Thai plant in March 2012.
The company aims to roll-out as many as 2,00,000 units of this car annually from this Thai plant. It plans to export over 70 percent of its total production to other markets. According to industry reports, the new Mitsubishi small car has been developed to sell in not only emerging markets like India, China and Brazil, but also in developed markets like Europe and Japan.
In India, the company is planning to enhance its annual production capacity to 1,00,000 units from existing capacity of 12,000 units. The launch of a new car in volume driven mass segment is expected to boost company’s dwindling market share in India.
Currently, Mitsubishi sells a range of its cars in the Indian market including sedans like Mitsubishi Cedia, Lancer and Lancer Evolution X, and sports utility vehicles like Mitsubishi Montero, Outlander and Pajero.
Mitsubishi currently sells its cars in India in partnership with Hindustan Motors that is India’s one of the oldest car makers.
