2002 Mitsubishi Montero Xls Sport Utility 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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The last Mitsubishi Evolution in the US sold for $76,400

UPDATE: The final Mitsubishi Evolution, Final Edition number 1,600, sold at auction for $76,400. The proceeds will go straight to Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino and Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County in celebration of Hunger Action Month. While we're sad to see the Lancer Evolution disappear, we're at least glad to see that the last one on our shores will do some good for those in need. Mitsubishi announced that the very last Lancer Evo X Final Edition for the US, number 1,600, will be auctioned on eBay for charity. The auction starts tomorrow at 9 am Pacific time and runs until Thursday, September 15 at 9 am. Considering the car's collectability and auction availability, the last Evo will probably go for well above MSRP, but that's a good thing. All of the proceeds will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank in Orange County and Feeding America in Riverside and San Bernardino, so the higher that bidding reaches for this particular car, the better. Aside from the charitable and collectible reasons, the Final Edition Evo is also the best version of the classic sport compact Mitsubishi has built. It has an extra 12 horsepower over standard and comes with the five-speed manual transmission. Plus it gets upgraded Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs and Brembo brakes. So if you want to buy the last, best version of a great car and help people while doing it, log into your eBay account this week and put in your bid. Related Video:

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV arrives in UK with 'no' price premium

For UK buyers who are interested in a plug-in hybrid SUV, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV just got a little bit sweeter. The reason is that the base model of the vehicle will be available with or without a plug for the same price at the base diesel model. "If it's not going to save people money, they won't buy it" - Mitsubishi UK's Lance Bradley According to Cars UK, the price for the Outlander PHEV will be GBP28,249 (about $47,000 US) after a government grant of GBP5,000. In other words, the plug-in SUV actually costs GBP33,249 ($55,000) but thanks to pro-EV regulations, buyers can choose the powertrain they want, not the one they can afford. The managing director of Mitsubishi UK, Lance Bradley, told BusinessCar that it just makes sense to price the two vehicles at the same level. "There are some clever cars in the market but they're all too expensive," he said. "There should be a clear cost benefit because if it's not going to save people money, they won't buy it. The Outlander PHEV has an all-electric range of 32 miles, a top speed of 75 miles per hour in EV mode and a towing capacity of over 3,000 pounds. The SUV invades Britain in May and is scheduled to arrive in the US in 2015. Mitsubishi Motors North America's Melvin Bautista told AutoblogGreen that the UK price equivalence doesn't mean anything for the US, and that the company hasn't even begun the pricing for the vehicle in the US. The way the vehicles are packaged in the UK is also be different than how things work in the US, so we can't read anything into the UK price. Another factor is that, at the time when the PHEV launches in the US, the standard gasoline version will be undergoing a light facelift, which will also be applied to the PHEV model. This isn't the first time an alternative-fuel powertrain vehicle has cost the same as the old-fashioned gas model. The 2013 Lincoln MKZ could be had with a 2.0-liter hybrid or a 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder for the same price.

Mitsubishi boss labels French minister a "retard" for "ruining the lives of motorists" [UPDATE]

Arnaud Montebourg (pictured), French Minister of Industrial Recovery, was recently the target of a rather despicable slur at the hands of Mitsubishi France's leader, Jean-Claude Debard.
Frustrated by Montebourg's attempts to encourage the purchase of lower emitting vehicles and discourage use of high-emission vehicles - by way of tax breaks and tax hikes, respectively - Debard reportedly used the occasion of a new product launch to call the minister "stupid," a "mental case" and a "retard" before members of the media. Here's the full quote, as reported by the French newspaper La Provence by way of The Telegraph:
"This mental case, this retard, increases ecological taxes, reduces the speed motorists can go on Paris' ring road and ruins the life of motorists from all social origins all suffer as a result of him. He is stupid and understands nothing, you can quote me on that."