Mitsubishi: U.S. sales, N.A. losses to grow

Aided by the introduction of the Outlander Sport crossover last fall, Mitsubishi expects U.S. sales to reach 73,000 units in the fiscal year that ends March 31, up 18 percent from last year.

According to KHABAR KHODRO, But despite the rosy outlook, the company's North American operations will remain in the red.

Mitsubishi says the region's operating loss will widen to ¥33.0 billion, or about $411.2 million, in the current fiscal year, from a $347.6 million loss a year earlier.

The region is projected to be Mitsubishi's worst performing, due partly to its underused assembly plant in Normal, Ill. The plant is being retooled to make the Outlander Sport.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is the latest Japanese automaker to predict it will finish the year with higher global output despite shutting plants after the March earthquake in Japan.

President Osamu Masuko, in giving his company's annual outlook, said global production is expected to climb 6 percent to 1.17 million units in the current fiscal year.

Masuko said his company will introduce a less expensive entry-level version of its i-MiEV electric vehicle in Japan. The car is expected to arrive this summer, have a range of around 75 miles on a full charge and cost less than $25,000.

That version will sell alongside the current model, which has a bigger battery to get a range of 100 miles. That variant sells for the equivalent of $37,100 in Japan.

There are no plans yet to sell the entry-level i-MiEV in the United States. A beefed-up version of the original is slated to go on sale in the United States in November. Mitsubishi says it has taken 300 U.S. orders for the car between April's New York auto show and June 9.