TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors Corp. reported Monday that its profits for the fiscal year tripled to $317 million as cost cuts and growing sales in North America offset its money-losing Japan operations.
The profits for the fiscal year ended March 31 were up from $95 million the previous year and were the best ever for the Japanese automaker, which is 37 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler AG of Germany.
Sales totaled $33 billion, up 22 percent from $27 billion, the first sales growth in five years. Even with adjustments for accounting changes that boosted sales, the growth translated to an 8 percent climb from fiscal 2001, the company said.
The report was roughly in line with the preliminary earnings the automaker gave last month. Mitsubishi Motors forecast even better profits for the fiscal year ending March 2004 at $342 million despite declining sales of $25 billion.
Chief executive Rolf Eckrodt said the turnaround under a partnership with DaimlerChrysler remains on track, although he acknowledged some uncertainties, such as the SARS outbreak which is expected to hurt regional growth.
He credited cost-cutting totaling $757 million and stronger sales in North America and Asia excluding Japan for the results.
In North America, Mitsubishi Motors sold 360,000 vehicles, up 6.5 percent from 338,000 vehicles a year ago. But in Japan, vehicles sales dropped 12 percent to 354,000 vehicles from 404,000.
Mitsubishi Motors' image has been tarnished in Japan by a scandal that surfaced in 2000 involving a systematic cover-up of auto defects for more than two decades.
Mitsubishi Motors, which controls just 6.6 percent of the Japanese market, also faces strong competition in Japan from domestic rivals Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co.
The Japanese auto market has grown intensely competitive lately because of the nation's economic slowdown.
Eckrodt said Mitsubishi Motors did not expect to break even in Japan until fiscal 2005.
Efforts to slash costs with DaimlerChrysler will continue, he said. The number of platforms, the basic part on which cars are built, will drop from 15 now to 10 in fiscal 2007, he said.
Vehicles built per platform will go up from 1.5 million to 2 million, a change that will add to savings. Mitsubishi hopes to sell 2 million vehicles worldwide by fiscal 2007, up from the current 1.5 million.
As part of its revival plan, Mitsubishi Motors has trimmed jobs and closed plants. It posted a huge loss for recall and restructuring costs in the fiscal year ended March 2001 but returned to profitability the following fiscal year.
The company spun off its truck division and set it up as a separate company in January, allowing the company to focus on passenger cars.