Mitsubishi Motors Corp. on Tuesday reported hefty losses for the fiscal first half that ended Sept. 30 due to sluggish sales in North America.
Japan's fourth-largest automaker said it incurred a group net loss of 80.22 billion yen in the period, compared with a profit of 6.64 billion yen a year earlier.
Net loss per share was 54.07 yen, compared with a per-share net profit of 4.52 yen a year earlier.
Mitsubishi Motors, owned 37 percent by DaimlerChrysler AG, also posted a group pretax loss of 85.79 billion yen in a reversal from a profit of 18.94 billion yen a year earlier.
Group sales fell 25.5 percent to 1.2 trillion yen.
The company blamed the shaky earnings results on a slump in sales in North America, increased sales incentives there and large one-time expenses from covering losses from nonperforming auto loans.
Sales in North America totaled 278.5 billion yen, a decline of 202.5 billion yen from a year earlier.
Domestic sales also fell by 376.6 billion yen to 735.8 billion yen due to the spinoff of its truck and bus business in January 2003 and a slump in exports to the United States.
Fuso profit up
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. said Tuesday that its consolidated operating profit in the first half of fiscal 2003 surged to 13.5 billion yen, boosted by thriving sales in Japan and improved operational efficiency.
The truck maker, affiliated with Mitsubishi Motors Corp., earned 2 billion yen in consolidated operating profit in the same period last year.
Its group sales jumped 26 percent to 432.1 billion yen in the April-September period.
In terms of volume, its global sales rose 22 percent to 93,000 vehicles. Domestic sales doubled to 45,000 units.