If Mitsubishi Motors chief Osamu Masuko is unduly concerned about slumping auto sales in the U.S., Japan, and Europe he wasn’t showing it at a media lunch in Tokyo today.

While realistic about the current global economic situation and its impact on auto sales, he emphasized the progress made at the automaker since its painful divorce from DaimlerChrysler three years ago, which followed recall scandals in Japan and a disastrous incentive scheme in the U.S. The carmaker probably wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for a $2.6 billion lifeline from other Mitsubishi keiretsu partners.

In the year through March this year, Mitsubishi had its best ever year for operating profits and its employees no longer believe the company is on the verge of collapse: when Masuko took over as president in January 2005, the company had been losing 70-100 employees a month from its development division alone, he said. Masuko also laughed off a question that Mitsubishi is better placed to weather the U.S. downturn because it sells so few vehicles these days.

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