itsubishi Motors Indonesia, the local arm of Japanese automotive giant Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, plans to boost the production of the Xpander, its latest low-multipurpose vehicle (LMPV), in response to high demand despite an overall sluggish outlook in the automotive industry.
The local manufacturing unit, Mitsubishi Motors Krama Yudha Indonesia (MMKI), will increase the production capacity for the Xpander to 160,000 units in fiscal year 2020, from 120,000 units currently.
“Last year, we received requests from our customers to accelerate Xpander delivery because the indent [waiting time] was a bit too long,” said Naoya Nakamura, the president director of Mitsubishi’s local authorized distributor, Mitsubishi Krama Yudha Sales Indonesia (MMKSI).
Nakamura was hoping that the increase in production capacity would speed up delivery, which often took two months.
The company’s factory in Cikarang, West Java, currently produces the Xpander and SUVs, such as the Pajero Sport, and Nissan’s LMPV Livina.
However, more than 50 percent of the factory’s capacity would be allocated for the Xpander’s production to meet domestic and export demands, Nakamura said.
The Xpander’s retail sales reached 100,000 units as of early March. The first model was introduced to Indonesia in September 2017.
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