2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse Gt Hatchback 2-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mitsubishi denies plans for Toyota/Subaru rival sports coupe

Forgive us for being wistful, but there was a time when Mitsubishi coupes and sports cars were the downright awesome. The 1990s brought us the all-wheel drive, turbocharged Eclipse GSX and the twin-turbocharged 3000GT VR-4 (seen here). The times, they were good.
Fast-forward to today, and the Lancer Evolution exists as Mitsubishi's sole, true performance offering. Mitsubishi killed off the Eclipse last year, by which time it had lost much the luster of its predecessors. With an affordable Japanese sports car fomenting underway thanks to Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ, one may think that it's an ideal time for a brand like Mitsubishi to jump back into the performance coupe game. A rear-drive Mitsubishi sports car to take on the Toyobaru twins could be just what the brand needs to gain some mindshare among consumers.
Not so, says Osamu Masuko. The president and executive director of Mitsubishi told reporters at the Sydney Motor Show, "Our engineers are very prominent to investigate new technologies, but to use that technology they are not that good to bring the revenue to make that money." Read: the engineers want to do it, but the company does not find it to be financially responsible.

Yes, the Mitsubishi Evo could become an electrified crossover, but don't panic

By now, many of you have seen that Mitsubishi will reveal a concept with the Evolution name at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it will be an electrified crossover. On the surface, that sounds like heresy when the Evolution name has always stood for an uncompromising, rally-bred, turbocharged sports sedan. But don't jump to the conclusion that this will be a terrible, halfhearted product that ruins the Evo name. It's a smart move for Mitsubishi, it could be the only way we get a performance vehicle from the company, and there's no reason it can't be good. Creating an Evo version of a crossover, or even a standalone Evo model, simply makes the most sense for Mitsubishi right now. There's no sign that people are getting tired of little lifted automobiles, which means that's where the sales and money are. Because of that, crossovers are the only product that Mitsubishi can safely afford to invest in right now. As much as we'd like to see another Evo sedan, the company can't afford to sink a big development budget into a one-off sedan for the very small enthusiast market. Investing in a basic sedan to use as a base isn't a good idea either, since that market also continues to shrink, and it's populated with very competitive models. Those facts won't comfort Mitsubishi fans, but looking at it another way could. Rather than looking at this concept as Evolution blasphemy, consider it a sign that the company wants to make something exciting again. Since most of the news from Mitsubishi has been the discontinuation of really old models, and updates to the less-old models still in the lineup, it's been hard to tell if any of the Mitsubishi that fans loved was left. Look at this crossover as a gateway to getting a fun Mitsubishi again. And this possible future Evo could genuinely be fun. We're not exactly raving fans of crossovers, either, since they're often heavy, expensive, slow and inefficient compared with similarly sized hatchbacks and sedans. But that's not a hard and fast rule. Nissan proved this with the Juke Nismo. Despite its tall body, it had a healthy amount of power and entertaining dynamics. There's no reason Mitsubishi couldn't do the same with a small crossover. It might even be better, because Mitsubishi clearly has some wizards when it comes to weight and cost, as evidenced by the one-ton, ultra-affordable Mitsubishi Mirage. The same goes for electrification.

Mitsubishi planning to bring back Lancer as hybrid crossover

It looks like the Mitsubishi Lancer is about to undertake a daring transformation from a ten-year-old sedan to a crossover. The Eclipse has already shed its coupe roots and become the Eclipse Cross, and now it's the Lancer's turn to become a high-rider. The carmaker already teased its future plans with the e-Evolution concept last year (pictured above), again combining a previously successful Mitsubishi nameplate with new crossover intentions. Now, talking to AutoExpress, Mitsubishi's chief operating officer and chief designer both hint of the Lancer taking the shape of the e-Evolution. For Mitsubishi, the Lancer's segment still looks very viable in the next decade, but it doesn't necessarily want to fight the Ford Focus and the VW Golf with a conventional hatchback, let alone a three-box saloon. "We believe we have a solution that could fit the segment", said COO Trevor Mann. "[The segment's] numbers are still expanding in China, so there's appeal. And I think because the segment is so large globally, we've got to take a look at it." The chief designer, Tsunehiro Kunimoto said, "Just because it's C-segment, it doesn't mean it has to be a very conventional hatchback. Maybe we can create a new type of hatchback vehicle. We're thinking quite radically." It is also likely that the Lancer's eventual replacement will use hybrid technology and a Renault-Nissan Alliance platform — and an all-wheel-drive option would still be a nod to the Lancer Evo's heritage, at least partially justifying any use of the Evolution brand. Trevor Mann says the product timeline is largely set until 2025, and the existing crossovers in the portfolio, the Outlander and the Outlander Sport (known elsewhere as the ASX) will get replacements. The company is now directing its attention to the Lancer and the Montero, both of which have last had a major update over ten years ago. The Lancer was phased out in the U.S. last fall after a very long run. Related Video: