Mitsubishi to Push North American Sales

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to almost double North American sales to 600,000 by 2007, betting that the world’s biggest auto market will make up for a drop in Japan.

Japan’s No. 4 automaker expects sales of cars and light trucks to increase from last year’s 322,393, said Pierre Gagnon, Mitsubishi’s North American chief executive. Mitsubishi, 37%-owned by DaimlerChrysler, will push further into Mexico and Canada, where it began selling cars in September.

Tokyo-based Mitsubishi’s U.S. sales rose 11% to 284,742 in the first 10 months of 2002 from a year earlier, and the company expects the year-end total to reach about 350,000. By contrast, sales in Japan fell in October for the 27th month in a row, bringing the decline in sales of cars and light trucks there to 28% through October.