June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which plans to sell electric minicars by 2009, rose to the highest in more than five months in Tokyo following a report that Japan Post will switch all its vehicles to electric cars.

The automaker advanced 7 yen, or 3.7 percent, to 194 yen at the 3 p.m. close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It was the highest close since Dec. 14, 2007.

Japan Post will start switching all its 21,000 cars to electric vehicles this fiscal year to escape higher gasoline prices, the Nikkei newspaper reported today, without saying where it got the information. Mitsubishi Motors, which currently rents electric cars to utilities, will start selling to fleets in 2009.

``Japan Post's use of electric cars is a big step forward,'' said Masayuki Kubota, who helps oversee 180 billion yen ($1.7 billion) in assets at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo. ``If high-quality electric cars are released, this could become a huge market.''

GS Yuasa Corp., which has a joint venture to make batteries with Mitsubishi Motors, gained 7 percent to a record 426 yen.

Japan Post is among companies that Mitsubishi Motors is in talks with as a potential buyer of electric cars, Fumio Nishizaki, a Mitsubishi Motors spokesman said by phone today. Japan Post spokesman Hideo Murata declined to comment on the Nikkei report.

Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third-largest carmaker, plans to introduce electric cars in the U.S. and Japan in 2010.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kiyori Ueno in Tokyo at kueno2@bloomberg.net; Tetsuya Komatsu in Tokyo at tekomatsu@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 2, 2008 02:19 EDT