2002 Mitsubishi Montero Limited 4x4 Suv / Leather / Sunroof / 3rd Row Seating! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

$99/month EV lease deals still out there, in some places

Has the electric-vehicle market really gotten to the point where folks can take out a lease for less than C-note per month? Yes, if you're interested in a Mitsubishi i of Smart ForTwo EV, Plug In Cars has found. As Mitsubishi prepares to bring in the 2015 model-year version of the i, it's unloading some of the 2013s for as little as $69 a month in some areas, bringing in a bit of deja vu for those who remember the $69 monthly lease rate some Mitsubishi dealers were asking for early last year. Meanwhile, a Smart EV can be had for $99 (discounted from $139 a month), with a $900 down payment, at at least one Connecticut dealership. Moving up to $139 a month could get you into a new Nissan Leaf, albeit with a honking' down payment of about $6,600. Chevrolet Spark EVs can be found in California and Oregon for as little as $199 a month. And both the Fiat 500e and Honda Fit EV can be found at some dealerships with lease rates in the mid-two-hundreds per month. The upper end of the plug-in scale - a Tesla Model S - still runs north of $1,000 a month (before you apply Tesla's various calculations to get to their "effective monthly cost"). But when you can afford to drive a Tesla, who's really counting? Featured Gallery 2012 Mitsubishi i: First Drive View 20 Photos News Source: Plug In CarsImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Sebastian Blanco / AOL Green Mitsubishi smart Electric ev sales lease i-miev i mitsubishi i smart fortwo ed

Mitsubishi's first US chairman since 2007 charged with revitalizing brand

Have a look at Mitsubishi North America's vehicle page and you'll find seven cars in four model lines: i-MiEV electric hatch, Lancer sedan, Lancer Evolution and Sportback, Outlander and Outlander Sport, and Galant sedan. The Galant has 3.9 tires in the automotive grave, and the only hope for mainstream excitement, the Eclipse coupe and Spyder, had hemlock poured down their crankcases last year. Increasing the quotient of bleak, the Lancer isn't due for a refresh until 2014, the coming Outlander PHEV will sell in miniscule numbers when it does arrive, a little sports car has been nixed and the only other Mitsu being considered for our landmass is the Colt, which, for its stellar fuel economy numbers, looks like a car designed by Pikachu. There's also that matter of declining NA market share in a rising overall market, Mitsubishi's piece of the total pie currently hovering around the 0.4-percent mark according to Automotive News.
The company has decided to do more about it, reassigning Executive Vice President and Head Officer of the Headquarters Product Projects & Strategy Group Gayu Uesugi to be the new chairman of Mitsubishi Motors North America. It will be the first time in five years that someone has filled the chairman position at MMNA.
The hope is that with Uesugi's 35 years with the company, his experience in the company's global product plan and his success in emerging market strategy, he's the man to "[develop] a product plan and growth strategy for the US market" that will put things right. Or at least better. He will work with Yoichi Yokozawa, who has been CEO of MMNA since last year. There are more details on the move in the press release below.

2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Quick Spin

The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is not new. It is also not sporty. Despite it all, the Outlander Sport is selling better than ever. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people take one of these crossovers home each month. That's good for Mitsubishi, a company clinging to life in the US market. But the Outlander's sales are a mere blip; that's about a week's worth of handshakes and signatures on Ford Escapes, at best. Until new product arrives, this is the stuff Mitsubishi has on the ground to sell, and the company has said it's committed to sticking around. That means I got to spend some time recently with a 2015 Outlander Sport SE with AWC (All-Wheel Control – you know, all-wheel drive). There are updates and changes for 2015, including an available 168-horsepower, 2.4-liter engine for ES and GT models, revised CVT, LED running lamps, thicker glass, better sound insulation, and electric power steering. But because I drove an E, I was locked into the 2.0 liter engine. It's the 4B11, a version of the GEMA engine, co-developed with Hyundai and DaimlerChrysler back in the Cretaceous. Driving Notes The most amazing thing I found after a week with the Outlander Sport is that it can bend the laws of physics. This is not a compact crossover so much as it's a time machine. Swing that door shut, and every trip takes place in 2008. Styling is pretty good. There's not a bad line on the Outlander Sport. It sits right on its relatively short wheelbase, and looks good doing it. I had low expectations for the powertrain. Most of my GEMA engine experienced comes from time with the Jeep Compass and Patriot, which are horrific NVH factories. Mitsubishi's version of this engine is more refined, and has a healthy 148 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque. The CVT has been revised to mimic the action of a seven-speed transmission. Why bother? The simulacrum doesn't hold. It's the typical 70/30 CVT split: unobtrusive 70 percent of the time, slippy and weird the other 30 percent. That same 70/30 split applies to on-road behavior. Most of the time, the Outlander Sport drives decently. Those other times, it just wants you to chill. Structural rigidity isn't up there with the segment leaders. Road noise is still higher than I'd have liked. This car has the single worst infotainment system I have ever experienced. Totally refused to pair with my phone, ever. This is not an isolated case for a Mitsu with this headunit.