1995 Mitsubishi Montero 4x4 on 2040-cars

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Japanese earthquakes send ripples through auto industry

The earthquakes since April 14 in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu are having aftershocks on the US auto industry, particularly for Toyota. The company shut down most of its factories in the country due to parts shortages, and the plants will be closed at least through April 23. "Decisions regarding recommencement of operation at plants in Japan will be made on the basis of availability of parts," the company said in a statement. According to Automotive News, Toyota's closed factories include a vast range of popular models in the US, including the Toyota Prius, Mirai, RAV4, 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Lexus ES, LS, IS, GS, RC, NX, RX, GX, and LX. The company's only sites in Japan that are still open build Hino trucks, Daihatsu models, and the Toyota Century limo. Toyota isn't yet sure whether these shutdowns could lead to vehicle shortages in the US. "As you can imagine, we are still reviewing the situation and working to learn more," company spokesperson Aaron Fowles told Autoblog. "While we know that production will be suspended in stages at most of our vehicle assembly facilities in Japan between April 18th and the 23rd, we do not know if they will continue production suspensions. Also, any effects to our inventory and/or sales have yet to be determined." He expects the automaker to know more in the coming days. Many of the affected Toyota plants aren't even in Kumamoto Prefecture, but major suppliers have factories in the region. For example, Aisin Seiki and Renesas Electronics both had to shutdown operations at plants in the area, according to Automotive News. Toyota isn't the only automaker affected. Nissan experienced a brief slowdown but was back to work on Monday, and Honda has suspended a motorcycle plant in the region until Friday. Mitsubishi had to close a production line due to the parts shortage, according to The Japan Times, but it didn't affect US models. "A supplier to our Mizushima plant has been impacted but they only supply an engine part for our mini car line. That line has been temporarily shut down due to that situation," spokesperson Alex Fedorak told Autoblog. "That same plant builds the Lancer and i-MiEv and there has been no impact to that line and production continues uninterrupted." Two major quakes hit Kumamoto Prefecture around Kumamoto city in the past week. The first on April 14 measured 6.4 magnitude, and a second on April 16 measured 7.3.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV van variant coming to Europe

Mitsubishi's Outlander Plug-in Hybrid SUV will be hitting our shores this fall. Across the Pond, however, it's heading into more no-nonsense territory. That's because the Japanese automaker is making a commercial van variant of the plug-in hybrid for the UK. Mitsubishi will start selling a model called the Outlander PHEV GX3h 4Work in the UK, Motoring Research says. Like the SUV, the model will pair a 2.0-liter gas engine with an electric motor and will have an all-electric range of 32 miles. The difference is that the back seats will be taken out and the glass will be blacked out. Hardcore, we say. The model will be priced at 36,905 British pounds (about $61,000), though buyers are eligible for a government grant worth 7,381 pounds ($12,200). Mitsubishi plans to start selling the Outlander PHEV stateside in Fall 2015. The company said earlier this summer that the US version will be substantially different from the current version, with updates for everything from exterior and interior styling to powertrain efficiency improvements. The model had some battery-melting issues last year in Japan, though Mitsubishi ramped up its production once those problems were solved. Mitsubishi representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the commercial-van variant from AutoblogGreen, but we expect to be hearing more about it soon.

Mitsubishi recalls 130k Lancers, Outlanders over auxiliary glitches

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has has announced two separate recall campaigns for Mitsubishi vehicles, both of them related to problems with their auxiliary systems and covering a total of some 130,000 units. The recalls relate to Lancers (including Sportback and Evolution versions) as well as the Outlander and Outlander Sport, all of them from the 2009 through 2011 model years. The larger of the two recalls relates to the blower motor that may not to an adequate job of defrosting the windshield and therefor impede the driver's visibility. The recall covers 76,958 units, specifically the 2009-2011 Lancer (manufactured between March 16, 2009, and March 30, 2011), 2010-2011 Lancer Sportback (June 17, 2009, to December 1, 2010), 2010-2011 Lancer Evolution (July 14, 2009, to January 7, 2011), 2009-2011 Outlander (February 10, 2009, to June 22, 2011), and 2011 Outlander Sport (August 26, 2010, to November 19, 2010). The smaller recall still covers another 53,395 units due to a problem with the electronic control unit tasked with operating the headlights, taillights and windshield wipers. "Unstable voltage" in that dedicated ECU could cause those systems to function improperly – which, again, could impede the visibility and increase the risk of a crash. This recall covers the 2009-2010 Lancer (January 12, 2009, to July 6, 2010), 2010 Lancer Sportback (June 17, 2009, to June 8, 2010), 2010 Lancer Evolution (July 14, 2009, to August 4, 2010) and 2009-2010 Outlander (January 12, 2009, to August 27, 2010). In both cases the manufacturer is not aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from the problems. But all the same, in both cases, owners will be notified to bring their Mitsus into their local dealer to have the relevant component (blower motor or ECU) replaced. Since the affected models and model years overlap, we suspect some owners may have both components replaced on their vehicles at the same time, but we're reaching out to Mitsubishi Motors North America for clarification. If this array of recalled vehicles sounds familiar, you might be thinking of a similar campaign issued last October that covered some 166,000 Lancers and Outlanders from largely the same model years. That unrelated recall, however, related to the drive belt detaching from the engine.