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A realistic approach to fixing Mitsubishi

There are going to be a lot of words written about what Nissan needs to do with Mitsubishi in the coming months and years in the interest of turning the brand around. After Nissan's purchase of a controlling stake in the diamond star brand, there's been more interest in Mitsubishi thanks to the potential of platform sharing and plenty of cash from Nissan-Renault to get the juices flowing again. But, while some have been doing their best to advocate for the return of the 3000GT, Evolution, and even the Starion - Many of these posts forget the reality of the market we live in today. As much as we like to look back fondly at the sports coupes of the '90s, a byproduct of the insane cash flows all the Japanese manufacturers had at the time, the reality of today puts a much greater emphasis on what is most-boring; Crossover SUVs, alongside mid-size and compact sedans. We do need to ask a fundamental question, how much Mitsubishi is enough to be able to continue to call the cars Mitsubishis? Aside from slight product revisions and reconfigurations, Mitsubishi (at least in North America) has been largely dependent on the same GS platform and 4B1 engines that date back to their long-time partnership with Chrysler (and Hyundai) in the mid '00s. Admittedly, the chassis and engines have served the company well, underpinning a wide variety of vehicles sold around the world, and seeing quite a few revisions to at least attempt to keep products competitive. But, the GS chassis is old, heavy, and severely out of date - and when matched to the underpowered 4B1 series engines - make for largely uncompetitive offerings in the market. While something like the Outlander Sport is indeed interesting compared to a Honda CR-V, it is by no means the smart choice in the segment. So, going forward, unless Mitsubishi has had a skunkworks of sorts developing their chassis and engine replacements over the past few years, what exactly are they planning to do for their bread-and-butter models? I think the straightforward answer is without a doubt the Nissan North America parts bin. With so many of their models selling well, and for the most part, are reasonably well-reviewed, it would be quite simple to adapt the chassis and powertrain to Mitsubishi's liking to create a high-volume alternative to what is currently available now.

Did Amazon just deliver a car in a giant box?

Back in September, reports started rolling in that Amazon would get into the auto sales business after a promo for the Nissan Versa Note appeared on the online retailer's page. That link didn't actually sell a car, but instead acted as a referral service for potential customers, linking them up with dealers. A recent image that's been floating around on Reddit and that was picked up by The Huffington Post, though, has us wondering if Amazon has dove into the actual business of selling cars, rather than just referring people to dealers.
The image, above, shows an enormous Amazon box on the back of a flatbed tow truck. According to HuffPo, this could be one of the cars sold through the earlier promotion for the Versa Note (which was sweetened with the addition a $1,000 Amazon gift card). Apparently, three of the Versas purchased would arrive in such a fashion. Then again, this could all be nothing more than an elaborate publicity stunt. Amazon is, after all, the company has been touting drone delivery of its goods.
What do you think is in the box? Let us know down in Comments. Bonus points for those that come up with an idea as absurd as the bulk order of banana slicers HuffPo mentioned.

It won't be long now before Nissan Leaf finally overtakes Chevy Volt

The two best-selling plug-in vehicles ever are the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. When the two vehicles launched in late 2010, the plug-in hybrid Volt quickly outpaced the all-electric Leaf and, despite lots of ups and downs since then, continues to hold on to a cumulative sales lead. This will change in 2015. Cumulatively, from November 2010 through November 2014, the Volt sold 71,867 units while the Leaf trails with 69,220. That's a difference of just 2,647. Based on current trends (with the Leaf selling around 2,500-2,700 a month and the Volt at 1,500-1,700) we expect the Leaf to take over either in January or, more likely, February when the Leaf takes over as the most popular plug-in car in America. Perhaps even March, depending on how low the numbers are for January and February, which are always slow sales months in the US. Of course, once it takes the crown, the Leaf can't expect to easily hold on for long. A new Volt is coming in the second half of 2015, likely beating a new Leaf to market. The question is, then, how well the Chevy sells with all of its new bells and whistles. Do you think the Volt will be the comeback kid once the 2016 model becomes available? Featured Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 55 Photos Green Chevrolet Nissan AutoblogGreen Exclusive Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales