An upcoming motor group in London is the latest to join the Mitsubishi family.
West London Mitsubishi, which started life as Putney Service Centre in 2005 before moving to Castelnau in Barnes in 2011 as the West Motor Company, is a family-run business, with Ardi Bala as the Dealer Principal and his brother, Artan, as the Service Manager.
Mitsubishi is the third brand it has signed with since 2012, and it now has some 15 employees, with more due to join. Ardi said: ‘It’s been a successful business for us and we’re really looking forward to being a Mitsubishi dealership. It’s very exciting and hopefully we will have a good future with them.
‘The company’s been doing really well. We bought a freehold property here in Castelnau, which is very good news for us, so hopefully we’ll be here for a long time.’
And he told why he had been keen to sign up with Mitsubishi. ‘It’s a very strong brand. It’s been out there for many, many years. It’s well known, and the new products that it’s got, especially the Outlander PHEV, really attracted us, as did the new products that they’ve got coming, including the new L200 pick-up. It’s really good news for us. The range they’ve got and their products suit the area for us. It’s going to be good.’
The game-changing Outlander PHEV is the world’s first plug-in hybrid SUV. Using both electric and petrol power, it has an impressive electric range of 32½ miles plus phenomenal economy and environmental credentials, emitting just 44g/km of CO2 and boasting an official combined fuel consumption figure of 148mpg. This means no vehicle tax is payable, plus it’s exempt from the London congestion charge. It is also eligible for the Government’s £5,000 Plug-in Car Grant.
What’s more, the Benefit in Kind is just five per cent, giving company car drivers a virtual pay rise of several thousand pounds per year.
‘The PHEV is fantastic, especially with us being in London,’ said Ardi. ‘It’s been doing really well elsewhere in London so hopefully it’ll do the same for us. With all the tax benefits and no congestion charge it’s a great thing for London, so it should be a success. We’re looking forward to doing well with it.’
The dealership joins Mitsubishi at an exciting time for the brand. The latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that Mitsubishi’s passenger car sales were up 74 per cent year-to-date, while in November alone the company’s passenger car sales were up by 251 per cent year-on-year against a market that was up by eight per cent.
Meanwhile, the Outlander PHEV is now not only the UK’s most popular plug-in hybrid vehicle but since September it has been outselling the traditional non-plug-in hybrids.
Lance Bradley, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors in the UK, said: ‘I’m delighted to welcome Ardi and his colleagues to the Mitsubishi family. The company’s steady, assured growth since it started out is very impressive, and I am confident it will make a great contribution to Mitsubishi’s continuing success.’
