Will This Be the Mitsubishi Crossover You Finally Get Excited About?
A few tech-conscious Americans are still waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for the capable and big-in-Europe Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV — a plug-in crossover introduced in 2014 — to arrive on these fair shores.
Everyone else, however, has had ample time to scratch that compact crossover itch with the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Ford Escape, Dodge Journey (the midsize priced like a compact), and a host of others. A lesser proportion of buyers opted for the smaller Mitsubishi Outlander Sport (aka RVR in Canada).
Crossovers and SUVs aren’t just big — they’re essential. Without them, automakers are left shaking the money tap to loosen a few extra drops of cash. Well, Mitsubishi doesn’t want to shake the tap anymore.
The struggling automaker, recently acquired by Nissan-Renault, faces the same problem in North America as Hyundai and Volkswagen — two automakers that belatedly realized the dire need for more crossovers. Mitsubishi simply doesn’t have enough to tempt the buying public. While the brand hasn’t fielded a midsize car in years, and recently dropped the ancient Lancer compact, its utility lineup saw its fair share of neglect.
Like Hyundai, Mitsubishi plans to beef up its offerings by shoehorning a new crossover model into its lineup, knocking another model out of the way in the process. Today, we have a sneak peak of that new model, due for an unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show in early March.
More svelte than either the Outlander or its little brother, the unnamed crossover boasts what the automaker hopes is a striking design. We can see a mild resemblance, in profile, of the XR-PHEV II concept. While there’s no word on its modes of propulsion, or whether a hybrid variant is in the works, we can expect more information in the lead-up to Geneva.
The new crossover will enter production late this year. To make room in the lineup for this model — which slots slightly above the Outlander Sport — the smaller crossover will shrink just a bit, further separating the models and giving Mitsubishi a second product to talk about in the future.
After hitting rock bottom in terms of U.S. sales in 2012, Mitsubishi has pulled back from the brink and posted sales growth in each consecutive year, However, last year’s tally — 96,267 units — topped 2015’s results by less than a thousand sales. By all appearances, growth has stalled, meaning a model that actually sells can’t come fast enough.
[Image: Mitsubishi Motors]
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Mitsubishi used to be an exciting brand; personally, I loved both their cars and their pickup trucks. It was the little Mitsubishi that became the Dodge/Plymouth Colt that coined the term, "Pocket Rocket" with a little 1.6L turbocharged engine at a time when tiny fours barely put out 80 horses. Even the larger fours--the 2.6 used in many Chrysler Corp cars in the 80s--pushed about 120-135 horses and not much, if any, more. But... The Starion was a hot little sporty number that was fun to drive (with a stick) without being excessively pricy. And the 300GT (Americanized 3000GT) AWD as practically a supercar. These and other Mitsubishi models were surprisingly desirable, even if they weren't always wearing the Diamond Star logo. The thing was that they had to prove themselves on street and track before anyone would actually buy one and the salesperson had to demonstrate the car's performance and capability in a way potential customers could recognize. One dealership went so far as to create a kind of mini-track around a dirt mound in a nearby vacant lot to show off its performance while a series of off-road-style trails led over the mount itself for the 4x4 truck crowd. The little diesel proved itself many times by climbing one trail that looked exceedingly steep from the car lot. Back then, Mitsubishi had a real competitor to the Jeep CJ, not too different from the Toyota Land Cruiser, called the Montero. It was a surpassingly capable little rig, though being of unibody construction couldn't really hold up to the rough stuff the way their pickups could. As long as you avoided dragging the body over a high break over, it could handle most 'average' trails, now Jeep rated to 2.5 or 3 (green or blue) depending on your rating system of choice. Not great, true but not all that bad, either. No. I have to admit I don't know what Mitsubishi did to go so wrong. The car that used to be their mid-level 'luxury' sedan became their hottest rallye racer while the rest faded so quickly that it seemed no time at all that they had almost vanished from American streets and highways. I almost never see one of their swoopy Eclipse sport coupes any more and there used to be dozens of them around here, often in the hands of street racers. Even the Galant, once their top luxury sedan, simply vanished. Why? How did they become so reviled that even Fiat does better in the States than Mitsubishi?
Not sure why, but this CUV screams "Honda!" more than Mitsubishi. I had to recheck the article title to make sure I hadn't misread it. The tailights that run along the C pillar and boomerang back into the rear panel echo the Fit and CR-V. Even the slant of the back window is reminiscent of the HRV and Civic hatch. The headlights and front details would fit right into the Honda family.