Mitsubishi tops all Asian auto stocks with 84% gain in 2022

Mitsubishi Motors shares have outperformed all Asian peers this year, rising 84 percent, spurred by a demand revival for small cars and pickups in Southeast Asia.

While Japanese car exporters have benefitted from the yen plunging to a 24-year low, Mitsubishi has also been helped by a product mix suited to emerging markets in Asia, where pent-up demand is being turned into purchases as economies reopen after the pandemic’s peak.

While half of this year’s 10 best-performers among Asian auto stocks are from Japan thanks to the weak yen, Mitsubishi’s gains are more than double those of any compatriot. Shares of Mazda and Subaru have climbed more than 20 percent, though Toyota’s have dropped.

Mitsubishi’s core markets include Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, making it “less vulnerable to the U.S. economy’s slowdown than for peers Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru and Mazda,” said Tatsuo Yoshida, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Mitsubishi, which is in an alliance with Nissan and Renault, gets about a quarter of its revenue from the Southeast Asia region.

Those markets are seen by many as bright spots in the receding global economy, with tailwinds from commodities, tourism and a high proportion of banks that are well-positioned for rising interest rates worldwide.

The automaker’s alliance with Renault is entering a new phase, with production set to start for rebadged and lightly restyled versions of two Renault models, the Clio small car and Captur small SUV. The Mitsubishi version of the Clio will be known as the Colt, and the Captur as the ASX. The vehicles will be built in Renault’s factories.