2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Es Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution's curtain call will come with more power

We love the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, but by this point, we've accepted the fact that the its days are numbered, despite the noticeable back and forth that accompanied rumors of the vehicle's future for so many months and years. And while the Evo's coming death in 2015 is pretty sad, a report from Automotive News claims that the road-going rally machine will at least be leaving with a fairly substantial bang.
According to AN, Mitsubishi will send off the Evo with a Special Action Model. Limited to between 2,000 to 2,500 units and destined exclusively for the United States, the Evo X SAM should boast, most notably, a bump in power for its 291-pony, 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder. There should be a few other performance tweaks to accompany the increased output, although it's unclear what those might be. AN claims the limited-edition model will drop during the last six months of Evo production, some time next year.
AN's report was confirmed to us by Mitsubishi spokesman Alex Fedorak, who said that, yes, there will be "a US special edition in 2015." We've asked for additional information, but all we've heard back, so far, is that mum's the word. Here's hoping we won't be waiting too long to get official details.

Mitsubishi hopes to raise $2.5B with stock sale

Mitsubishi, which dates all the way back to 1870, is one of the oldest business collectives in Japan. Today, the various businesses that share the Mitsubishi name are largely independent of each other. The automotive unit, however, has fallen on hard times over the past few years.
Back in 2004 and 2005, Mitsubishi Motors sold billions of preferred shares to sister companies like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corp. Now the automaker is preparing to buy back those shares, only to raise the capital, it's selling $2.5 billion worth of shares, simultaneously paying stock dividends for the first time in over 16 years.
The stock issue will reportedly include as many as 241 million shares at a value of $10.73 each. The move is part of a long-term reorganization being implemented by the automaker's president Osamu Masuko, and is expected to help the company double its net income and eliminate all outstanding preferred shares by the end of the fiscal year closing in March.

Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.