Mitsubishi 2003 Annual Report Download - page 14

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12
ANNUAL REPORT 2003 POWER TO CHANGE 12
ANNUAL REPORT 2003 POWER TO CHANGE
Feature
DOMESTIC OPERATIONS
Over the past two years, MMC has been optimizing its sales network in Japan to enhance cus-
tomer satisfaction based on the belief that there are five critical elements involved in the success
of the Mitsubishi brand: customers, products, marketing message, sales network, and business
style. The goal of this optimization is to achieve the top level of Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) within
the Japanese car industry, which measures how pleased customers are with the quality of the
overall service provided. This achievement will translate into increased customer loyalty and make
the Mitsubishi brand more powerful.
WHAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE WITH SALES NETWORK RECONSTRUCTION IN JAPAN?
In January 2003, we implemented a major change to the structure of our domestic sales network. We integrated the two
separate sales channels (previously divided into Galant and Car Plaza dealerships) into a unified network under the
Mitsubishi Motors name. The integration of the two streams is creating a uniform corporate appearance in the market-
place. In an ongoing program we will renovate all of our dealer showrooms along similar lines. At the same time, we
have formulated a series of “dealer standards” designed to boost MMC to the top position in the SSI rankings. Repre-
senting an assertive effort to assume greater respon-
sibility for the way our products are sold to
customers, these standards function in our internal
quality system as a Quality Gate within the sales area.
They establish specific quality standards for the per-
formance of our dealerships in a wide range of areas,
including the quality of service provided by our
people and the style in which business is conducted.
By April 2004, we plan to conclude new contracts
with all our sales companies based on these new
quality standards. We have also made substantial
progress in reducing the overall size of our sales
network by optimizing regional coverage across
Japan. Compared with October 2002, when our net-
work contained 1,042 outlets managed by 225 sales
companies, in April 2003 we had 65 fewer outlets
(977), managed by 39 fewer sales companies (186).
In addition, we have taken steps to rationalize our
wholesale network by officially registering around
2,100 of the 22,000 subdealers with whom we have
had commercial dealings in the past as satellite
shops. We have also designated certain dealerships
as MMC-registered sales outlets. These dealerships
had to satisfy a number of selection criteria. Besides
providing high regional coverage in their specific
area and maintaining sales volumes in excess of a
Fujio Cho, President of Kinki Mitsubishi Motor Sales Co., Ltd. (left)
Eiji Iwakuni, Executive Vice President,
Domestic Sales & Marketing Headquarters (right)