If you’ve followed cars as long as I have, you’d have been following cars since Mitsubishi was last a household name in the industry! Which is to say, in 1999, with the generation three Eclipse. But the company has hung on, sort of, particularly in its home market of Japan and developing regions of the world where it has sold super-compact and highly cost-conscious transportation.
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The Sakura, an unassuming microcar from Nissan and Mitsubishi which launched last year, has become the top-selling EV in Japan, beating out global rival Tesla. In a country that has been dragging its heels in going electric, this neat little car meets an obvious need that connects to consumers: It’s cheap and insanely practical.
Mitsubishi has been something of an also-ran in the automotive world for the past decade, with the brand’s storied badges (Delica, Lancer, Pajero, Eclipse — to name a few) largely forgotten in modern vehicular conversation. Now, it says it will invest up to $200 million in partner firm Renault’s Ampere EV unit.
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Japanese automaker’s reluctance to go all-electric is already taking a toll on the nation’s auto industry. Mitsubishi Motors revealed this week it’s suspending operations in China due to its inability to keep up as EVs continue to take over the market.
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Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese automaker to accelerate its electrification strategy as demand for electric vehicles continues climbing at a record rate.
The company revealed a new business plan Friday, “Challenge 2025,” that involves four new EVs, including an electric pickup truck.
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Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are expected to announce this week that they will form an alliance to jointly develop electric vehicles, according to an exclusive story published by Reuters today.
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Mitsubishi was one of the early pioneers of the modern EV era, launching the original iMiEV electric kei car on World Environment Day back in 2009. Against all odds, the iMiEV is still in production and, today, a fixture in EV markets across Europe and South East Asia – but this, too, must end. Mitsubishi is following up the iMiEV with a pair of new electric kei cars, led by the K-EV Concept X Style.
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Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) just offered a press release stating it has now surpassed 200 global deliveries of its Fuso eCanter truck. These 200 light-duty electric trucks have already begun operating in parts if Japan, Europe, and the United States.
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German police raided Mitsubishi offices on Tuesday in the latest diesel investigations. That’s a black mark for the troubled Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance that has been working on electric vehicles. Nissan owns a 34% stake in Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi’s popular plug-in hybrid SUV, the Outlander PHEV, is getting quite a few upgrades with the 2019 version, including a slight increase in battery capacity for a little more range.
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The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s mobility giant Didi, also known as “China’s Uber”, to “explore future business cooperation on a new electric vehicle car-sharing program” in China.
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Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV is 3 years late and it comes with a paltry 12kWh battery yielding a range of 22 EV-only miles on a charge. That’s the bad news.
But today the only US plug-in SUV under $35,000 showed up for sale and as things stand it is the only affordable SUV you can drive via plug-in electricity in the US. Luckily it can also tow a 1500lb load and can charge relatively quickly via CHAdeMO…
With the Tokyo Motor Show today, we are starting to see a lot of new electric concept cars and Mitsubishi’s new all-electric E-Evolution is no exception.
Yet, the Japanese automaker is trying to present it as more than just a concept. Mitsubishi is also launching a renewed brand strategy and tries to place its new electric vehicle concept at the center of it.
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It’s hard to believe them at this point since they have been promising it for the past three years, but Mitsubishi says that the Outlander PHEV is finally coming to the US in December.
They released more information about the launch this week and even US pricing for the first time.
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Mitsubishi’s electric car effort has roughly stalled since the launch of the i-MiEV and the Outlander PHEV back in 2012. But the Japanese automaker is now expected to get back into electric cars more seriously under its alliance with Renault and Nissan.
Now they confirmed that they will unveil their next electric car at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show next month and they released the first teaser image of the concept – pictured above.
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On the sidelines of the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, several major automakers made announcements about their electric car efforts.
The Renault, Nissan & Mitsubishi alliance wasn’t among them, but they now also announce new plans as part of their 2022 synergy strategy.
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Ahead of the 2016 Paris Motor Show next month, Mitsubishi Motors announced today a new plug-in hybrid SUV to be unveiled at the event. The Japanese automaker released a few renders of the new vehicle as well as some specifications.
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Mitsubishi issued a press release today to tease a new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) concept to debut at the 2016 Paris Motor Show in September. The company describes the concept as a ‘high-end SUV coupé’ based on what the automaker has been developing lately in the electric SUV segment like the crossover eX concept unveiled last year.
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This week at the New York Auto Show, 3 long years after the Outlander PHEV’s international launch, Mitsubishi finally debuted its flagship plug-in hybrid SUV in the US, where its launch is now set for this fall.
The first US version and 2017 model will look very similar to the previous international version – you can see a new gallery below.
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Mitsubishi Motors confirmed that its popular Outlander PHEV plug-in hybrid will finally go on sales in the U.S. in August, or about 3 years after its initial launch.
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Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko talking to Automotive News confirmed that the company will launch the Outlander PHEV in the US around “mid-2016”. The plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander consistently reach the top of the best-selling lists for plug-ins in European and Asian markets where it is available, but the Japan-based automaker has been delaying a U.S. launch for quite some time now. If we are to believe CEO Osamu Masuko, 2016 might finally be the year.
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Yesterday at the Tokyo Motor Show, Mitsubishi unveiled its 250 miles all-electric crossover eX concept. The company announced the model just a few weeks ago, but we only had renders, now we have the real thing.
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Mitsubishi announced today that it will unveil a new electric vehicle concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, which starts on October 29. The new vehicle is called the eX concept and the company hopes to bring it to market in 2020.
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Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors will work together to develop a minicar-based electric vehicle, aiming to release a new model in fiscal 2016 at the lowest price among major automakers. The carmakers have set up a 50-50 joint venture to pursue development. Nissan, which released the Leaf electric car in 2010, is the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, with global sales of at least 124,000 units. Mitsubishi has a track record in this area as well, including the minicar-based i-MiEV released in 2009. They plan to co-produce the new car and work together to procure such key components as lithium-ion batteries. The i-MiEV is the cheapest electric passenger car on the Japanese market, starting at 2.52 million yen ($24,300). When government subsidies of up to 740,000 yen are included, it can be purchased for as little as 1.78 million yen.
This will be interesting if they can build a car as good as a Leaf for as little or less than a i-MiEV. If they can do this, the math is almost unstoppable especially a gas prices rise.