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Mitsubishi Lancer, Outlander Sport named 2013 IIHS Top Safety Picks

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has added a pair of Mitsubishi models to its ever-growing list of 2013 Top Safety Picks, giving the prestigious safety award to the 2013 Outlander Sport and Lancer (sedan and Sportback). Both models make a return visit to the list, but with 117 cars now on the list and IIHS crash standards getting tougher just about every, this is big news for the small Japanese automaker.
Among small SUVs, the Outlander Sport is just one of nine vehicles in this segment to be named a Top Safety Pick, while the Lancer's name is surrounded by 28 other compact coupes, sedans and hatchbacks in the highly competitive small car segment. The Top Safety Pick status does not apply to the Lancer's Ralliart or Evolution variants, and neither the Outlander Sport nor the Lancer were subjected to the new small frontal offset crash test that would have resulted in the new Top Safety Pick+.
Scroll down for Mitsubishi's press release.

Mitsubishi looks to crossovers and EVs for US success

Say what you will about Mitsubishi, but the Japanese automaker is slowly seeing a resurgence here in the United States. December 2015 marked the company's twenty-second consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases, and looking at last year as a whole, Mitsubishi's sales were up 23 percent over 2014. Ken Konieczka, Mitsubishi's vice president of sales operations, says that in order to stay successful, the company will bet big on crossovers and electric vehicles in the coming years. And that means a relatively aggressive product plan here in the US. First up, a brand-new CUV will launch in early 2018, previewed by the eX Concept that debuted at last year's Tokyo Motor Show (pictured). Konieczka says Mitsubishi is making room for this new crossover in its lineup – the Outlander will slowly get bigger, and the Outlander Sport will get smaller. The production version of the eX will slot between those two. Speaking of the Outlander siblings, both will be replaced in the next five years. A new, larger Outlander will arrive in 2019, and the smaller Outlander Sport will arrive in 2020. To fulfill the electric side of the business, Konieczka confirms the next Outlander Sport will sprout an EV variant, and the Outlander plug-in hybrid will launch in the United States later in 2016, as a 2017 model. As for the rest of the company's portfolio, Mitsubishi will offer the updated Mirage hatchback and new G4 sedan later this year. The future for the Lancer, however, looks grim. Konieczka says Mitsubishi still can't find an OEM partner to help create and produce a new Lancer, and our gut says the compact sedan will be phased out in the very near future. "We made a lot of mistakes," Konieczka admits, saying Mitsubishi was "spread too thin [and] had too many models" in the past. This new, more focused approach on EVs and crossovers certainly sounds promising, and will hopefully help Mitsubishi continue its slow growth here in the US market. Still, we won't know for sure until the new products actually reach showrooms. But for now, at least, things are steadily on the rise.

Mitsubishi Evo successor on hold?

Just take one look at Mitsubishi's latest vehicles, both concept and production, and it's obvious that fuel economy - not performance - reigns supreme. With this in mind, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Caradvice.com.au is suggesting that Mitsubishi is putting development of future performance models (like the 2013 Lancer Evolution GSR shown above) on hold as the company focuses on electric and plug-in vehicles.
In speaking with Mitsubishi managing director of product projects Ryugo Nakao at the Tokyo Motor Show, the publication says that the entire Lancer redesign is on hold, meaning that the aging Lancer Evo and Ralliart will have to contend with fresh performance models like the Volkswagen GTI and Subaru WRX. That being said, the article doesn't completely shut the door on another Evo - in fact, it goes on to indicate that when a new generation does hit the streets, it will almost certainly do so with some sort of electric-assisted powertrain, an oft-repeated rumor that got its legs as early as 2010.