Refunds as price falls on the 380
By BRYAN LITTLELY
28apr06
MITSUBISHI 380 owners will be offered refunds of up to $2000 by the Adelaide carmaker as it today drops prices and introduces a second series of the car.
The base model 380 will now be $6500 cheaper than last year's launch price as the company continues to struggle in the big car market.
Mitsubishi has introduced a new base model 380, the ES, the manual selling for $27,990 and the automatic for $29,990.
About 1500 retail buyers are expected to get the cashback offer - or an extended warranty and refund mix - as a goodwill gesture based on the lower prices now being offered new buyers.
Mitsubishi also will talk to commercial buyers about compensation.
About 30 more jobs will be shed at the Tonsley Park plant, with production of the 380 to be reduced to 75 a day by June.
Mitsubishi now plans to build about 20,000 of the cars in its first year - down from an initial planned production of 32,500.
Series 2 comes about six months into the model's life and after little more than 6400 of the cars have been sold.
But Mitsubishi Motors Australia president and chief executive officer Robert McEniry said yesterday the new 380 models and new pricing across the Mitsubishi range would make the company the most competitive in each of its market segments.
"The revolution is here and the Mac Attack has begun," Mr McEniry said after outlining his plan for growth of Mitsubishi Motors Australia.
He believes repositioning pricing across a wide range of models - bringing the cheapest of the 380s down to $27,990 will help turn around the brand's fortunes.
"The 380 is an outstanding product and our (Tonsley) plant is manufacturing at high levels," Mr McEniry said.
"The only problem with the 380 is that right now we're not selling enough. But it's not an orphan, we're not selling enough of all of our cars."
Mitsubishi has also dropped the permanent price of its Outlander LS SUV to $29,990, down by $2500, and the Lancer ES 2.4 litre at $19,990.
The new Colt range will be offered at a competitive price, and the Pajero VRX will be the "hero" for that model at $49,990, Mr McEniry said.
He also alluded to the carmaker investigating a four-cylinder engine option for the 380 and said that talks with Malaysian carmaker Proton about export opportunities were progressing.
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