日经周末特稿重述三菱汽车东南亚收缩、转向发达市场战略，无新增事实

TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Motors is rethinking its strategic emphasis on Southeast Asia as Chinese automakers sweep into that region, but a shift to mature markets like the U.S. faces uncertainty after years of cutbacks.
"We leaned too heavily toward products for ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] markets in our previous medium-term plan," CEO Takao Kato said during a briefing on the company's medium- to long-term vision at the end of May.
Kato's comment reflected mounting concern about the company's dependence on the region.
Mitsubishi Motors began making autos in Thailand in 1966 and later expanded into Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries ahead of rivals, taking advantage of the regional network of trading house Mitsubishi Corp.
Over the past decade, Southeast Asia's share of the automaker's global sales rose from 20% to 31%.
But the playing field has changed dramatically since 2020 as Chinese electric vehicle makers have burst onto the scene and snatched market share.
Mitsubishi Motors, which has yet to roll out EVs in Thailand, saw its sales there roughly halved over the past five years.
Even in the Philippines, where its performance had been relatively strong, sales growth has slowed since the start of fiscal 2026 in April.
The automaker plans to introduce 13 vehicle models over the six years through fiscal 2031. But the list includes only one Southeast Asia-focused model, a redesigned version of the Xpander launched in 2017.
That marks a sharp reduction from the previous medium-term plan, under which four new models were launched in the region between fiscal 2023 and 2025.
Instead, Mitsubishi Motors will make a renewed push into developed markets, introducing about 10 models including minicars and EVs. "We will strengthen our position in the U.S. and Oceania, where our rollout of new models had been slow," an executive said.
The company also plans to make full use of original equipment manufacturing arrangements with partners in developed markets. It will launch a compact EV in Australia and New Zealand assembled by Taiwan's Foxconn this year. In North America, it is exploring cooperation with Nissan Motor and Honda Motor.
This shift toward developed markets carries the risk of settling for a smaller scale.
To increase sales volumes in the U.S. and Japan, Mitsubishi Motors will need to take market share from competitors in markets where its slice is only a few percent. But its efforts to pare down its dealership networks during years of weak performance since 2000 have left it with fewer outlets than its rivals.
Mitsubishi Motors is now targeting global sales of 900,000 vehicles in the year ending March 2030, up 13% from fiscal 2025. That would be well below the company's recent peak of 1.24 million vehicles in fiscal 2018, and lower even than the 1.1 million-unit target in its previous medium-term plan.
The company's alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi group companies may also not be as solid as it once was. A lockup agreement with major shareholders including Nissan and Mitsubishi Corp. that had restricted the sale of Mitsubishi Motors shares for 10 years following Nissan's investment in 2016 expired on Oct. 20.
Going forward, these shareholders can sell their stakes if certain conditions, including Mitsubishi Motors' consent, are met.
The automaker's stock price has fallen more than 30% from its closing level on Oct. 20, 2016. While none of the major shareholders has shown any immediate intention to reduce its holdings, "as criticism of cross-shareholdings intensifies, the company should really be standing on its own," said one major shareholder in the Mitsubishi group.