TOKYO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Motors launched its Outlander crossover vehicle in Thailand on Friday in a move aimed at winning back lost share in the country's small but fast-growing passenger car market.
"The launch of the Outlander...is the first in a new product offensive that calls for a shift away from (our) traditional reliance on pickup trucks to a broader product mix," Japan's fourth-biggest auto maker said in a statement.
Pickups dominate Thailand's vehicle market, accounting for roughly 70 percent, but growth has come much faster in the car segment.
But Mitsubishi Motors' car sales have plunged as rivals Toyota Motor and Honda Motor flexed their muscles, causing its share of the car market to fall to 3.1 percent in the year to date, from 5.7 percent in the same period last year.
Mitsubishi, owned 37 percent by DaimlerChrysler , hopes to reverse that trend by following the Outlander's launch with the Grandis minivan, to be built locally starting next year.
In a bid to boost its profile, the company also announced a name change for its local unit to Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Company Limited from MMC Sittipol.
Mitsubishi expects its total Thai sales, including cars and pickups, to grow more than 12 percent this year to 36,000 units, for an unchanged overall market share of eight percent. Of the total, it expects car sales of 6,200, which would be down 20 percent from 2002.
Competition in the Thai car market is expected to heat up further as sales volumes approach the government's 180,000 units-a-year target. Toyota and Honda, which control 82 percent of the market, also launched new cars in Thailand this week.