Mitsubishi’s first quarter sales were down 1.9% to a total of 483.9 billion yen (£2.2bn), compared to the same period last year.

The company said the decrease was due to a weak Asian and other regions market, which was not completely offset by increases in Japan, North America and Europe.

Global market sales of Mitsubishi Motors vehicles in the first quarter of fiscal 2006 totalled 292,000 vehicles, 34,000 fewer than the 326,000 sold in the same period last year.

In Europe, the company sold 71,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 5,000 driven mainly by a substantial increase in sales volume in Russia and the Ukraine, major growth markets in the region.

The company reported an operating loss of 6.8bn yen (£31m), an improvement of 7bn yen (£32.1m) over the same period last year.