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Junkyard Gem: 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally Edition

The Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally Edition looked fast, with sporty OZ wheels and some Evo-ish body moldings. In fact, it had the same sewing-machine-grade 120-horse four-cylinder under the hood, driving just the front wheels, as the ordinary commuter-appliance Lancer. Mitsubishi moved enough of these things that you see them from time to time; here's a used-up example in a Denver-area self-service wrecking yard. These cars must have been popular in Colorado, because this is the second discarded example I have seen in a couple of months, following this '03. Rear drum brakes on a 21st-century car badged as a Rally Edition? Yes, rear drum brakes. The original factory cold-air intake is gone, replaced by this innovative rain-gutter-downspout rig. Is there anything you can't fix with sheet-metal screws, zip ties, and duct tape? The single non-appearance-related rally-ish bit here is the five-speed manual transmission. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Around the world, there were other faux-sporty versions of this generation of Lancer. For example, the Thai-market Lancer F-Style. Featured Gallery Junked 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Edition View 20 Photos Auto News Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi dealers would really like a truck to sell

While Mitsubishi is switching gears to focus on crossovers, that won't address a market that its dealers would like to be in. While answering questions from the press last night, Don Swearingen, executive vice president and COO of Mitsubishi's North American office, mentioned that its US dealers have a pickup truck high on their "shopping lists." In fact, he said that a truck is pretty much at the top. Mitsubishi does already have a small pickup truck it sells in foreign markets, badged as the Triton or L200. However, Swearingen said that just because dealers want a truck doesn't mean it's going to happen, citing various obstacles to bringing one to market. If, for example, Mitsubishi brought over the Triton, the company would have to go through the long, expensive process of certifying it for US safety and emissions regulations, not to mention making sure it fulfilled American buyers' demands. There's also the Chicken Tax, which levees a steep tariff on trucks built outside of the US and imported in. One possible way Mitsubishi could circumvent all of those issues, though, would be to leverage its new partnership with Nissan. Nissan already sells Frontier small pickups in the US, and Mitsubishi could simply redesign that model to suit its style. It's something that both companies are familiar with as well. Mitsubishi previously sold a restyled Dodge Dakota as the Raider, and Nissan allowed Suzuki to rebrand the Frontier to be sold as the Equator for a short time. It would certainly be a quick way to get into the truck market. However, Mitsubishi would also need to decide if such a product would actually be profitable, in addition to satisfying dealers. Related Video:

Mitsubishi boss says US operations may break even next year

Mitsubishi has lost money in its North America operations every year since 2007, but in an interview at this week's Tokyo Motor Show, company president Osamu Masuko said, "If things keep going well, it might be the case that we break even this year," Automotive News reports.
A little context: Last month Mitsubishi predicted that it would lower its operating loss in the region to 4-billion yen ($40.7 million) by March 31, the end of the fiscal year, well below the previous fiscal year's operating loss of more than five times that amount. Reflecting that, production at the Japanese automaker's sole North American factory in Normal, Illinois, has grown to 56,630 vehicles through October, compared to 27,339 through the same period last year.
The plant makes the Outlander Sport for the US and for export to markets such as Russia, the Middle East and Latin America. Interestingly, out of the 56,630 Outlander Sports built at the Illinois plant through October, only 20,150 were sold in the US.