Mitsubishi sales drop 56.3% in May

Mitsubishi sales drop 56.3% in May

TOKYO: Sales of new Mitsubishi vehicles in May plunged to less than a half the year-before level, apparently hit by defect cover-up scandals at the group, a dealers' association said on Tuesday.

Mitsubishi Motors sold a total of 4,213 new vehicles in May, down 56.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

The fall is much steeper than the 10.6 percent year-on-year drop in overall new vehicle sales in Japan, including trucks and buses but excluding mini-vehicles.

Mitsubishi Motors has been struggling to survive after U.S.- German auto giant DaimlerChrysler, its main shareholder, decided against injecting any fresh capital in April. -- AFP