KUALA LUMPUR: Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) of Japan says its collaboration with Proton Holdings Bhd is over. This follows the change in ownership of Proton to DRB-Hicom Bhd, which subsequently chose Honda as Proton’s new foreign strategic partner (FSP).

This was confirmed by MMC vice-corporate GM for Asia and Asean Ryujiro Kobashi, who said there are no plans to extend the MoU with Proton.

“Our MoU is already explored and our collaboration is already over. [There are no plans] to extend it,” he told newsmen at the launch of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s (MMM) new eco-car, the Mirage, yesterday.

MMC and Proton signed a product development agreement in December 2008 to develop a new vehicle model for Proton. Both parties had agreed on a product collaboration that would see Proton source a vehicle from Japan to replace the Waja, and Mitsubishi take the Persona and Proton’s multi-purpose vehicle to be marketed as Mitsubishi cars in certain markets.

The agreement would also see Proton and Mitsubishi Motors jointly develop a small hatchback car that was to be introduced after 2010.

The DRB-Hicom group took over Proton in May for RM3 billion and swiftly looked to Honda as Proton’s new FSP. DRB-Hicom has a working relationship with Honda through its tie-up in the Honda assembly plant in Melaka.

MMM CEO Tetsuya Oda said the company aims to capture a 20% share of the B-segment hatchback market among non-national car brands with the launch of its new Mirage.
He said Misubishi is currently the fourth best selling non-national car brand in Malaysia, with a 4.1% market share. He was confident the company would be able to achieve its sales target of 13,000 units by end-March 2013, including the Mirage and new variants of current models.

The Mirage is being sold in three variants with prices ranging from RM56,980 to RM64,980 (on the road) with insurance. MMM has also made available a range of optional accessories with prices ranging from RM150 to RM1,999.

“We are very orientated towards eco-cars and the best fuel efficiency in this segment. Within the Malaysian market we don’t have direct competitors, but customers may compare [the Mirage] with the Perodua Myvi or Suzuki Swift even though these are different concept cars,” said Oda.

The Mirage also claims to have greater fuel economy, with an achievable run of 21km per litre measured on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). MMM attributes this to the car’s lighter body and 1.2-litre engine.

For now, the cars are being imported as completely-built-up (CBU) units. But Oda says MMM is seriously looking into having the cars locally assembled. The earliest the company could possibly announce the local assembly plant would be in the first quarter of 2013.

Oda believes the Malaysian automotive industry has the potential to become the export hub to neighbouring Asean countries based on the current trend.

Kobashi said MMC would upgrade its sales forecast for four major countries — Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines — in view of the encouraging sales achieved to date.

“Our earlier target for 2015 in the major four countries was 360,000 units a year. And we already reached almost 300,000 units by mid-2012, so our target has to be upgraded a little,” he noted.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Nov 20, 2012.