Mitsubishi ready to break Toyota's domination this year

MITSUBISHI could be set to break Toyota's 11-year stranglehold on market leadership in Indonesia this year.

According to industry records, to the end of September, Mitsubishi had edged out its Japanese rival by selling 54,613 vehicles compared with Toyota's 54,455.

While Mitsubishi sales have increased, Toyota has seen its fortunes fall as a tighter monetary policy, the Timor national car and a proliferation of other small sedans have bitten hard into its sales figures.

The vice president director of Mitsubishi's local distributor, PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian Motors, Herman Latif, said the company had increased its market share from about 20 percent last year to about 25 percent this year, while Toyota had fallen from about 27 percent to 25 percent.

Herman said although Mitsubishi had led the market for the entire year, it would be a close call for the 1996 winner and there was likely to be little more than about 100 vehicles between the two companies at year's end.

While Mitsubishi has maintained sales in the passenger car market and grown its commercial share, Toyota has lost in both areas with Corolla sales falling from 861 vehicles in January to just 261 in September.

However, the major blow to Toyota has been the significant drop in sales of Kijang which have been reflected in an overall fall in this sector of the market.

The Association of Indonesian Automotive Industry reported that sales of these category one vehicles, which make up more than 60 percent of the total vehicle market, had fallen by 20 percent over 1995.

Sales of passenger cars, however, had remained reasonably steady but still account for less than 10 percent of the overall market.

Herman said although he was pleased Mitsubishi had increased its share, it would be of a much smaller base this year as the total market would be lucky to reach 330,000 vehicles -- 50,000 fewer than in 1995.

To the end of September the total market was just over 237,000 vehicles of which passenger sedans made up 27,000 units.

"Certainly the presidential decree in February affected the market," Herman said.

"The national car issue and tight monetary policy have also slowed the market this year," he said.

However, Herman remains optimistic the market can still reach its forecasted 500,000 vehicles by 2000, especially as the passenger sedan market continues to grow.

Although Herman would not be drawn on new models, Mitsubishi may have a number of prospects for the future in this market sector which could further provide a sales boost for the company.

One of these may be the new model Galant which was recently launched in Japan.

The new vehicle shares the same dimensions as the current model except for an increased overall height of 20mm, improving interior headroom.

Outside, the vehicle maintains the distinctive looks of the current model while interior ergonomics and switchgear have been improved.

Safety features abound with all models in Japan featuring antilock brakes with some models incorporating the new active yaw control and active stability control for improved handling.

The slightly smaller Charisma may also be on the shopping list with confirmation that the vehicle is headed for Asia -- starting with Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Brunei -- from late next year.

The Charisma is produced in a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Swedish carmaker Volvo in the Netherlands and is expected to make a big impact on the Asian markets where its European styling would make it a sought after sedan.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi is also believed to be in the process of negotiations with its Indonesian partner to restructure the way the business is organized to improve cost savings.

The reorganization will bring the local manufacturing and assembly operations, parts manufacturers and sales company under one roof as a single joint-venture partner.