Mitsubishi Motors reported fourth quarter and annual results this week, with year-on-year increases across the board in sales and production. Despite the fact that industry-wide supply constraints imposed limitations, the company saw increases across its markets in Asia, Europe, and North America.
In the Japanese home market, the production of Mitsubishi cars and trucks increased 172 percent year-on-year in December to 44,091, totaling 440,762 units for 2022. Overseas production increased to 42,718, a gain of 67.7 for December, and totaled 571,646 for the year. Altogether, Mitsubishi produced 1,012,408 vehicles across Japan, Thailand, China, and Indonesia.
Likewise, export numbers were up, with Japan exporting 23,538 units in December, for a total of 222,242 for the year. Exports for the rest of the world totaled 14,577 for December and 133,729 for the full year.
Mitsubishi Motors did not provide a breakdown of vehicle sales by model in its report. However, in the US, the Outlander remained the company's top seller, with 40,942 units sold through 2022, the best single year in the nameplate's history. The 2023 Outlander PHEV arrived in dealerships by late November, accounting for 20 percent of the Outlander's sales for the remainder of the year. In all, Outlander sales increased 37.5 percent in the fourth quarter versus the same period a year ago.
There were other significant bright spots for Mitsubishi in the US, despite ongoing challenges with vehicle and part supply, a changing economy, and hard weather across the country. In addition to the Outlander, Eclipse Cross sales increased by 9.8 percent over 2021. Most notably, retail-only sales increased while fleet sales declined.
Mitsubishi continues to revamp its lineup for 2023 and beyond. Last fall, it reintroduced its Ralliart nameplate as a special edition package on key models. The company also tested its new L200 midsize truck on US soil, which could return as a rebranded Ram Dakota at some point in the future. Then there were renderings of a new Eclipse sports car, which could imply Mitsubishi is considering resurrecting the car, which was popular in the 1990s and early 2000s.
