Mitsubishi Boss Says Cars Still Matter, Makes Case For New Lancer, Mirage

BY Cristian Gnaticov | Posted on

Like all other mainstream automakers out there, Mitsubishi has to deal with the issue of growing crossover and SUV sales.

The Japanese automaker already has a number of high-riding vehicles in its lineup to cater to its clients’ needs. However, passenger cars still account for a good chunk of sales worldwide, so they’re currently reconsidering the Mirage and Lancer.

Accordint to GoAuto, speaking to the automotive press during the reveal of the facelifted L200 in Thailand, Mitsubishi COO Trevor Mann admitted that they’re not saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to anything just yet. Their plan is still being discussed and they’ve got “some ideas in the pipeline”.

“Obviously, as a brand, you need entry vehicles, you need to ideally bring somebody into your brand and then walk through the brand as their lifestyle changes, be it financial or family-driven”, Mann said.

Development of the Mirage’s successor has already begun, and for the subcompact car, Mitsubishi is looking at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance for the platform. “It’s likely that the next Mirage will be on the CMF-B platform, but not decided yet”, he commented. The CMF-B architecture will also underpin the upcoming Renault Clio, Captur and Nissan Juke.

As for the next Lancer, Mann said “it wouldn’t necessarily be on the Megane platform. If we are talking about passenger vehicles, depending on the size, it would be on the CMF-C platform.”

Mitsubishi’s intention to keep passenger cars in its lineup was further highlighted by Corporate VP of Product Strategy, Vincent Cobee.

“I know all of you guys write about the growth and emergence of SUVs, and it’s correct, it’s 35-37 percent of the total market today, and it’s still growing. But that doesn’t eradicate the fact that there will be 40-50 million cars that will be traditional passenger cars.”

Cobee added that they need to “cater to those 40 million customers”, so they will “investigate the possibility to look at passenger cars. We have in our wish list some intention to do passenger cars.”

Note: Mitsubishi Grand Lancer and Mirage pictured

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