2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Good news, everyone! Updated Mitsubishi Mirage coming in 2017

If you think you see a 2016 Mitsubishi Mirage, it's a mirage. That's because the dreadful subcompact is going away for the new model year. But don't worry, the Mirage will make a triumphant return with a few updates. According to Car and Driver, an updated Mirage will launch early in the 2017 model year with powertrain and chassis enhancements. That's a good thing, considering how poorly the current car has been received. Also coming for 2017 is the Mirage sedan, a car that's already sold in other markets. Mitsubishi already confirmed the sedan's arrival, and considering how popular the base Nissan Versa sedan is, this should only improve the Mirage's sales here in the US. Speaking of sales, the Mirage isn't doing too bad in our market. It's the second-best-selling Mitsubishi product currently, beating the Outlander and Lancer through July of this year. An updated version and a sedan model will help, too. And hey, maybe this refreshed one won't be so dreary.

Renault to propose joint holding company with Nissan, Nikkei reports

TOKYO — Renault SA will propose to Nissan Motor Co a plan to create a joint holding company that would give both firms equal footing as the French automaker seeks further integration with its Japanese partner, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday. Under the proposal, both firms would nominate a nearly equal number of directors to the new company in which ordinary shares in both Nissan and Renault would be transferred on a balanced basis, the newspaper said, without citing sources. This would effectively dilute the stake held by the French government in Renault to around 7-8 percent, from its current 15 percent, it added. The new company would be headquartered in a third country, such as Singapore. Renault plans to make the proposal to Nissan soon, the Nikkei said, having modified an earlier merger idea that Nissan rejected on April 12. Nissan declined to comment on the issue. The Financial Times newspaper reported that both Nissan and the Japanese government have refused to engage in merger talks with Renault. The report of the proposal comes as the outlook for the alliance — one of the world's top automaking partnerships — has clouded since the arrest in November of its main architect, Carlos Ghosn, for suspected financial misconduct. It also comes as Nissan's financial performance struggles following years of focusing on volume sales over building its brand, particularly in the United States, its biggest market. Nissan slashes its forecast This week, the Japanese automaker slashed its profit forecast for the year just ended to its lowest in nearly a decade, citing weakness in its U.S. operations. Renault for years has been vying for a closer merger with Nissan, which it rescued from the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago. Ghosn had been working to achieve a deeper integration before his arrest on financial misconduct charges in November last year. While the automakers have been consolidating many of their operations over the past decade, including procurement and production, many executives at Nissan have opposed an all-out merger with Renault. Instead, Nissan has argued for a more equal footing with Renault, which holds a 43 percent stake in its bigger partner. Nissan holds a 15 percent stake in Renault. It was unclear whether Renault would hold the casting vote in major decisions at the new company, as it did in Renault-Nissan B.V., a strategic management company jointly held by both companies that oversaw operations for the partnership.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is fourth plug-in to reach 100,000 sales

After what seems like a lifetime of delays, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will finally arrive in this US in " late summer, early fall." What's taken so long? Well, Mitsubishi had to sell 100,000 of the big plug-in hybrids in Europe and Japan first, apparently. You could see the milestone coming, since sales have been strong in the markets where the Outlander PHEV was available, with around two-thirds of its sales coming from Europe, Hybrid Cars says. When we spoke with Don Swearingen, executive vice president of Mitsubishi Motors North America (MMNA) earlier this year, he said that sales of around 200-400 Outlander PHEVS a month (10-20 percent of the Outlander's total US monthly sales) would be, " a very good number." Inside EVs says that the Okazaki Plant where the Outlander PHEV is made, " is running at full swing." As Hybrid Cars points out, the Outlander PHEV is only the fourth plug-in car ever to sell 100,000 units. The others are the Nissan Leaf (roughly 218,000 sales worldwide), the Tesla Model S (120,000), and the Chevy Volt (110,000). The next likely candidate to cross this threshold is the Prius Plug In – it has around 75,000 sales – if we count the upcoming Prius Prime updates as the same vehicle. Related Video: