Mitsubishi today pulled the cover off its new Mirage G4 sedan, which adds a longer wheelbase and a trunk to the occasionally-maligned subcompact, the 2016 New York International Auto Show. As we noted with the restyled hatchback, 4 more horsepower — for a total of 78 — will hum from the Mirage G4’s 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine, and Mitsubishi will make available Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as an option.
The new trunk makes the ovoid Mirage look a bit more car-like. It may also make the Mirage a little more slippery through the air, but fuel economy ratings have yet to be announced.
The Mirage G4 will go on sale at used car dealerships with Mitsubishi signage this spring.
In addition to the trunked Mirage, the Outlander PHEV finally arrives on U.S. soil after a couple years of sales overseas. The plug-in hybrid pairs a 2.0-liter gasoline engine with twin electric motors and a 12-kWh lithium-ion battery to supply power to all four wheels.
Those electric motors can drive the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in full-electric mode, so the bunnies in the countryside can breath a sigh of relief before being trampled. The electrified utility vehicle can also operate in series and parallel hybrid modes when more power is demanded. Regenerative braking will attempt to keep the battery pack juiced in stop-and-go traffic.
The Outlander PHEV is scheduled to go on sale this fall.
No pricing has been announced for either vehicle.
[Images: Mitsubishi]
I made this more than ten years ago:
http://perisoft.org/tad.jpg
…apparently Mitsubishi has yet to get the memo. What an absolutely hideous vehicle. It looks like a shopping cart with body cladding.
It’s not made for you. This is basic “car”, where they stuff as much interior room as feasible into as small a footprint as feasible and leave out all the superfluous frippery.
“It’s not made for you. This is basic “car”, where they stuff as much interior room as feasible into as small a footprint as feasible and leave out all the superfluous frippery.”
They did that with the Mini and it didn’t look monstrous or cheap; this is both. I refuse to believe that there’s no way to accomplish a small, inexpensive vehicle without it looking like a… Christ, whatever it is that it looks like.
Ummm, no. I don’t think you could buy a Mini for $14k
I agree with you, but as I just commented in the Nissan Micra article, the general public sees the rising door sill and thinks “sporty”.
It’s also sporty because the Mirage has the same door handles FCA uses on the Charger.
Wow, so much snark and venom so early in the morning.
If you don’t like it don’t buy it.
Even we don’t buy it, we still have to look at it on the rare occasion someone drives by in one. If there was a billboard for goatse on your way to work, not buying the product would not help, you’d still have to see it.
Mitsubishi really has no clue as to what to sell in the US. Tiny 3 cylinder sedan and hybrid version of failed CUV? These would be perfect in a market with $5 gas.
Do you really believe that gas will always be $2.00 a gallon?
Mitsubishi, they still make cars? Why?
Because FCA dealers can’t finance everyone with a 475 credit score.
LAWL.
Because some people need a car that’s worse than an Altima at the same price.
The bright color choices make them easier to repo.
You have the best poor credit jokes.
*rimshot*
Well, you can’t say Mitsubishi doesn’t listen to the market; they DID stop producing all those garbage piles no one owned for more than eight months anyway.
Well, the G4 sedan version looks better than the original Mirage.
This is the first car I’ve seen whose battery is as big as the engine:
http://f.ptcdn.info/510/009/000/1378759694-2014Mitsub-o.jpg
To their credit and my surprise, Mitsubishi is on a bit of a sales tear in the US, enjoying 18% YOY growth since 2012. They outsell Volvo by volume, which is still stuck in the doldrums. I used to think they should both be on a TTAC death watch, but at the moment I’d say Mitsubishi still has a chance of survival.
I heard the Outlander PHEV was pretty good. Depending on the pricing, it could actually be the one that sells well in our market.
I bet it’ll be $40k.
Breaking News: Mitsubishi Mirage Now Resembles A Car Rather Than A GEM Vehicle
The 2017 hatchback (and this sedan, obviously) have not yet arrived at dealers in my area. The hatchback, I think, will arrive first (maybe very soon). When available, I plan to drive each of these (just to understand, first hand, what these are all about). I continue to see Mirage hatchbacks on the local roads (as well as the Mitsubishi SUVs). Somebody (in my “supposed” US government classified upper-middle/lower upper class township) is buying these things (in particular, and of interest; the Mirage). They can be seen frequently in driveways, plaza parking lots, and school parking lots. Something (not sure what it is) is causing these to be somewhat popular (or at least, seemingly popular) with the folks in this small region.
There have been a few hatchback sightings in the last week or two. Most of them are still making their way out of port.
On a related note, you can get a new mitsubishi mirage hatchback for $8998 CDN, or about $6800 USD. I guess a version with a trunk should be a buck or two more.
“The Mirage G4 will go on sale at used car dealerships with Mitsubishi signage this spring.”
Is this a typo? Why would a new car be sold at used car dealerships?
(Maybe they will all be demos sold as used cars with 5 miles on the odometer?)
It’s a snarky reference to the stereotype of Mitsubishi dealerships being used-car lots that also sell five new Mitsus a month.
That stereotype is real here!
The Hyundai dealer sells lots of used cars too.
The Hyundai dealer nearest me is a combined Hyundai/Acura lot. Cause that makes sense! At least they’re separate showrooms.
In Framingham MA there is a combined Acura/Hyundai dealer.
14 years after the sale, I’m still angry with them.
Around here, there’s…
-Clearwater Ford/Mazda on the same property
-Ford-Mitsubishi of Port Richey (good place for Mitsu)
-Village Cadillac-Toyota (The building is Toyota architecture and there is a front-line of $800k of Escalades beside a TOYOTATHON IS ON!!! banner. Google Map it. Its hillarious)
-Scott Buick-SAAB (defunct – talk about two divergent brands)
Lol, yep.
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.8266194,-82.5792956,3a,75y,77.47h,86.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGwpBEKamBsour_wwS03Fnw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
You want like a BRZ or like a XTS? They both got three letters!
Escaladeathon is on.
My local Mitsubishi dealer gave up selling Mitsubishis out of their used car side. Now they sell boats.
Mitsubishi: Driven to sail.
Why does Mitsubishi still bother? Their current lineup is a joke: Two mediocre crossovers, the unfathomably ancient Lancer and this, the Mirage, which even with the owner suicide prevention updates for 2017, is still the most hateful car on sale in the U.S.
I’d be surprised if they don’t lose money on every vehicle they sell, seeing how the segments they compete in aren’t exactly high margin to begin with.
Now, with the Normal plant shut down, it’s really time to pull chalks and call it a day. Mitsubishi in 2016 is pretty much the equivalent of 1964 Studebaker in this market.
Except the 1964 Lark actually looked good.
I would instinctively agree with you, but if you read my post above ^^, I noted that Mitsubishi has seen 18% YOY growth since 2012, thanks largely to the Mirage.
They’re still hurting, but things are actually looking up lately.
Mitsubishi used to make some of the most advanced cars on the planet. In the mid to late 80’s, they made some very sophisticated vehicles, most of which were available at Mopar dealers. Men of a certain age would love to have another shot at a pristine DSM as delivered 25 years ago. I know I would…
By the early 2000’s, they had screwed themselves with never ending “Galant-athons” and the attendant bad credit risk customers. They totally hosed their reputation, even if the cars were marginally OK, i.e., up to D3 standards.
I think with the loss of the Evo and the concentration on small cars (prolly to meet CAFE requirements) and CUVs (something that sells), Mitsubishi has a survival plan in place.
I’m sure they (like VW) do not want to leave the US market in disgrace and have found the minimum saleable types of vehicles to remain (somewhat) relevant in the US…
Looks like a North Korean family hauler to me. Not sure I’d want to support some Thai military junta. On the other shoe Mirage sales prove not all Americans are consumptive pigs…
There has been some pre-launch confusion. Some sites saying a 6 speed auto for G4 but I think it’s confirmed CVT?
Yep, CVT. Same exact powertrain as the hatch.
They wrung four more horsepower out of the 3A92 for ’17 by utilizing a roller cam.
Sheesh!
This is an inexpensive, fuel-efficient, reasonably well-made puddle-jumper being sold in a sputtering economy. The market used to be full of these kinds of cars, and the ‘Corvette guys’ left them well alone. Why all the hate?? Does anyone here really think Mitsubishi intended this car to impress CAR ENTHUSIASTS?
It can’t possibly be any worse than the Versa sedan, and Nissan sells loads of those. As has been mentioned, I think opinion of this car would be different if gas were $4.97 a gallon….again.
Does everyone here really believe that a car costing $14,000 has to be 9/10ths of a $25,000 Corolla in order to be worth buying??
enthusiasts love to believe they’re way more important than they are. They don’t understand that if the car companies only made cars which appealed to enthusiasts, they’d all be out of business in a week.
Just look at that nonsense “Dumb facts about the Navigator concept” article they puked up on Jalopnik. It’s extremely heavy on the “dumb” and unsurprisingly light on the “Facts.”
it’s what you get from a bunch of young guys who think “being a snarky a$$hole” is useful journalism. It’s one reason I didn’t care for the stuff Aaron Cole wrote here.
Completely agree. I read that hooey about the Navigator as well.
Mitsubishi used to make a beast of a car for all of the ‘enthusiasts/experts’ who post here, and none of them was willing to drop $40,000 on one. So guess what….MITSUBISHI STOPPED SELLING THEM. The ‘crocodile tears’ over the Evo’s demise have been flowing for the last year…
Instead, they all buy used BRZs and S2000s while coming here to mock Mitsubishi for expanding on a car line that is actually selling well for them.