Mitsubishi Repairs Planning, Marketing

Looking to correct a slump that trimmed its sales by 13% in the first quarter, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc. said Tuesday it has reorganized its marketing and planning units to spread responsibilities among several key employees.

“Our ability to succeed depends greatly on our ability to develop new and perhaps revolutionary ways of thinking about customers, competition, products, different geographic markets and the structure of our organization,” said Pierre Gagnon, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Tuesday’s reorganization appears to be an effort by Mitsubishi to increase its focus on distribution, said Lincoln Merrihew, director of auto products analysis for J. D. Power and Associates.

Now that consumers can shop the Internet and have dozens of competing makes and models to choose from, car makers have to work harder than ever to “make sure they have the right product at the right place at the right time,” he said.

To help do that, Mitsubishi has increased the prominence of its logistics and distribution operation--creating a new vice president’s post to oversee the unit and shifting former marketing vice president Frances Oda into the slot. Oda also will oversee retail development.

Katy Bremer, formerly director of logistics and distribution, becomes vice president of marketing, while Peg Dilworth-Hunt, former retail strategies manager, becomes director of marketing communications and will oversee advertising, auto shows and promotions.

Mitsubishi Motor Sales was founded in 1982 to distribute imported and domestically built Mitsubishi autos and trucks. The company is responsible for developing the Mitsubishi dealership network and marketing message.

After years of steady growth, Mitsubishi’s U.S. sales began a gradual decline in 1994, when it held a 1.5% share of the nation’s car and light truck market. Although sales rebounded slightly last year, the company’s market position didn’t. Mitsubishi ended the year with a 1.2% share of the U.S. auto market.

Sales since then have declined sharply, a condition Mitsubishi blames in part on decreased production last month of its most popular sedan, the Galant, as it retools its Illinois manufacturing plant to handle updated 1999 models.

Analysts, however, say that Mitsubishi has suffered because its image is fuzzy and its key models, the mid-size Galant and the upscale Montero sport-utility vehicle, have not kept up with newer, fresher offerings in their market segments--the most competitive in the U.S. auto market.

“As the market gets more cluttered, it is incredibly important for a manufacturer to have a distinct image that is easy for consumers to understand,” says Chris Cedergren, managing director of the Nextrend consulting firm in Thousand Oaks.

Gagnon said the latest internal shuffle is designed to make Mitsubishi “more responsive to the needs of our dealer network and our retail customers.”

Tuesday’s announcement is part of a continuing management reorganization that began a year ago when Gagnon, then a General Motors Corp. marketing executive, was hired as Mitsubishi’s vice president of operations.

In December, he succeeded Richard Recchia as chief operating officer when Recchia, 59, became corporate vice chairman.

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Sales Slump

A 13% decline in sales in the first quarter compared to 1997 has led Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America to reorganize its marketing and planning units. Quarterly sales, in units:

1998

1st qtr.: 13% decline

Source: Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America; Researched by JANICE JONES DODDS/Los Angeles Times