Mitsubishi's new car a vital step, says president

The launch day in October for Mitsubishi's new car will be the most important in the Australian company's recent history, says president Tom Phillips.

In fact Mr Phillips believes the new model is so crucial to the company's future it is shaping up as one of the most eagerly awaited releases for the auto industry in Australia for more than two decades.

"I don't want to be melodramatic but this could turn out to be one of the most anticipated car launches in more than 20 years, not just for Mitsubishi," he said.

"And a lot of that is because a lot of people think it's not going to happen.

"That's why it's going to be so good to get there."

Mr Phillips has conceded the company is still working to turn around consumer perceptions that the Adelaide-based producer has a limited future as a local car manufacturer.

In surveys the company conducted last year it found more than 80 per cent of people believed Mitsubishi would pull out of Australia.

That figure has since dropped to below 50 per cent thanks to a concerted media campaign to ensure the buying public that Mitsubishi is here to stay.

Mr Phillips said he did not expect the figure to drop much lower in the months leading up the October release but once the new car was launched it would then come down rapidly.

"There's still a lot of cynicism around," he said.

"But that's why we're doing this campaign. It's about getting the message out there that the car is coming."

Mr Phillips said dealer confidence levels were also increasing and a recent rise in sales, with total demand up 17 per cent to the end of May, meant the company's dealer network was now more profitable as a group that those of Ford, Toyota and Holden.

"That's a good indication that things are turning around," he said.

"Previously it's just been a feeling that we've had, but now it's really being transferred into results."

Mitsubishi will start building the new car in August and will set the initial build rate at about 175 a day, increasing to about 200 a day before Christmas.

The company hopes to sell about 2,500 cars each month with about half of those going to first-time Mitsubishi customers.

- AAP