Mitsubishi raises prices, blames dollar's slump

By Alastair Sloane

First the good news: Mitsubishi has just unveiled its millennium model Lancer GLXi. The bad news: The new car and everything else badged Mitsubishi will cost between $200 and $1050 more from next week.

It is the second price rise in a month. The carmaker blames the depreciating New Zealand dollar.

"The yen has appreciated by 15.6 per cent against the kiwi from a rate of 64 yen to the dollar in July to 54 yen today," said Mitsubishi Motors national sales manager Wayne Robertson.

"With the October 1 and November 1 price increases we have only recovered about 4.5 per cent in total on Japan-sourced product.

"If there is no improvement in the value of the dollar we will obviously need to raise prices further."

The Lancer has been a strong seller for Mitsubishi and the updated model gets a new boot lid, new interior trim and new 14-inch wheels.

"The release of the new model is two months earlier than planned, following strong sales of the existing model," said Mitsubishi's marketing boss, Mike Alexander.

"The Lancer is one of the longest-running names in the Mitsubishi line-up, the first model being introduced here 25 years ago."

The facelift model uses a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine mated to either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission.

It comes with dual airbags, central locking, engine immobiliser, power windows and air-conditioning and is priced at $27,500 for the manual and $28,700 for the automatic.