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]
If it wasn’t for TTAC, I wouldn’t know Mitsubishi Existed.
Thanks for keeping us in the know about the nations most underrepresented manufacturer!
They have pretty much fallen off the “radar screen” for most consumers, that’s for sure. To quote a young friend who formerly worked in sales at one of their stores: “we sell the deal, not the car”
I can’t think of a circumstance where I’d use “crossover” and “excited” in the same sentence.
I can… but it requires the CUV to be full of lingerie models. Which I can only assume is pretty much never going to happen.
To me, “crossover” sounds about as exciting as “prostate exam”.
Beyond the looks, it’ll have to be competitive, or be the lowest-priced compact CUV out there.
It will need a compelling reason to choose it over any number of other offerings: something other than looks or price.
Special financing for people in dire economical situation.
From what I can see, I’m not impressed. It looks like someone shared the decklid off a current-generation Taurus and turned it into a hatchback.
I don’t have a problem with Mitsubishi vehicles.
I do have a problem with Mitsubishi *dealers*.
http://www.jimmarshmitsubishi.com/new/Mitsubishi/2017-Mitsubishi-Mirage+G4-for-sale-in-Las-Vegas-NV-67ca180a0a0e0ae8294096d1f6cd17d3.htm
Jim Marsh Mitsubishi takes a Mirage G4 with an MSRP of $15,040, marks it UP to $18,029 using something they call a “Dealer’s Suggested Retail Price (DSRP)” and then generously knocks $2,989 of the DSRP, which brings the price down (“your savings”) to…
THE ORIGINAL MSRP.
Then they generously allow you to get the $2000 rebate from Mitsubishi.
I’d feel like I got a better deal at a BHPH lot.
Gotta hand it to ’em at Jim Marsh. I’ll bet they sell a bunch to the rubes with this program. LOL!
Having worked at a Mitsubishi dealership, although not in anything near a sales capacity, I can tell you that they mostly deal in used cars; the new cars are almost auxiliary. Mitsubishi franchises are pretty much a front for allowing a dealer to subject a customer to the same amount of bulls**t that he’d experience at a sleazier BHPH; only the customer will be more tolerant of it and think it’s a better experience because there’s a new-car brand and logo attached to the dealership and the building is marginally cleaner than a BHPH.
This also describes some Kia dealerships that didn’t improve with the products.
Surprise! Jim Marsh sells Mitsubishi AND Kia!
It’s the obvious business maneuver in this market but,
Crossover + Mitsubishi = Excitement?
Stick the EVO powertrain and suspension tuning in it and maybe, but this is likely another unremarkable entrant in an unremarkable field. Will it be 2.5L four, 2.0L four, or 1.5L turbo? CVT or geared auto? The suspense, as they say, is killing me. And look at that sloping rear glass, mucho sexy for sure but what good is that for hauling cargo?
Silhouette looks like a 4 door 1986 Dodge Colt. That liftback is an abomination functionally and aesthetically, and the whole silhouette screams “REMEMBER THOSE LITTLE HATCHBACKS WE GOT DURING THE ’79 FUEL EMBARGO?”. No Mitsubishi.
I just read on another site that it will be called the Eclipse.
One of my neighbors bought a new outlander sport. Sharp looking in red she seems to like it (it replaced a last year Cobalt so not a high bar).
I was at the dollar store with my daughter buying coloring books for party favors for her birthday the other day. When i walked out I saw 2 newer lancers and outlander sport and an outlander in the lot. As much as I love Mitsu that does show their current market, which they will need to break out of some how. (although the next most represented brand in the lot was MB including a new CLA and GLE and an older ML. )
I thought about the Outlander Sport for a while in terms of a replacement for my TDI because it was “okay” looking and pretty affordable. Then I realized that Mitsubishi specifies a 3750 mile OCI. That was the end of Mitsubishi consideration for me.
Their website (I realize it’s not an owner manual) showed 7500mi for “normal” operation. Not that I consider the difference to be a big deal.
Yeah, 7500 does show as normal, but with a lot of city driving it would be 3750 for me. You could probably do “severe” intervals at 7500 on full synthetic but the things should be rated for 10000 changes like the TDIs I’ve been driving since the early 2000s.
Most modern cars have oil life monitors these days anyway, but I guess the OL Sport doesn’t have such a thing.
I’ll be curious if they can actually make something that people in the US will buy. Now the long rumored Lotus crossover might be interesting.
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 4×4 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.