Mitsubishi 2002 Annual Report Download - page 14

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12
SPECIAL FEATURE—MANAGEMENT TALKS
What factors have helped to engineer the success that MMC is now enjoying
in North America?
ANSWER
I think it is the result of a comprehensive transformation over the past several years. In a way, these changes show
the way forward for the Turnaround of the whole company. North America proves that the Turnaround really works.
There are several elements. First, we completely rethought our passenger car marketing in the United
States. Starting in 1998, we adopted a new brand image based on three key appeal drivers: high quality, high
value, and the emotional appeal of “Spirited Cars.” We aimed to promise consumers the Mitsubishi brand
meant vehicles that are distinctive, sporty and fun to drive.
We forged an integrated marketing communications strategy based on this new positioning. Advertising
campaigns helped raise brand awareness from around 36% in 1997 to roughly 60%—the largest jump among
all Japanese car brands in the U.S. over that period. We are now the leading Japanese brand among buyers
under 35, and have a diverse customer base in terms of ethnicity. This suggests strong potential to build from
our current market share of 1.9%.
Our distribution and vehicle financing systems also changed to reinforce the new brand image. Besides
expanding the number of distributors, we upgraded our U.S. dealer network to provide higher service quality. All
our dealers in the U.S. are now independent. We changed the sales ethos from a push to a pull mentality,
seeking to supply customers with the car they want. We introduced the first web-based dealer-ordering system
in the U.S. auto industry. We adopted a balanced portfolio of financial consumer offerings and at the same time,
we reduced the scale of incentives to fit with the enhanced brand image. The results have been increasing
sales, lower inventories, higher earnings, more profitable dealers, better service, and more satisfied customers.
NORTH AMERICA
Yukio Komeda General Manager
QUESTION