One could argue that Mitsubishi has lost its mojo as it longer builds a single sports car or even a single ‘sporty’ model. That’s because the Japanese car manufacturer has changed its focus considerably.
Speaking with Car Throttle at the Geneva Motor Show, the managing director of Mitsubishi UK Rob Lindley said that SUVs are now their priority.
“Mitsubishi’s focus is now SUVs, crossover, four-wheel drive, along with alternative fuel technology. Mitsubishi has moved around different brand positionings, whether it’s been Spacestar style vehicles or sports car derivatives, Evo – it’s not had that clarity of focus,” Lindley said.
Mitsubishi sits apart from many of its Japanese rivals which have been slowly re-introducing sports cars and remains defiant in its belief that SUVs are the way forward. This means that enthusiasts shouldn’t expect to see the carmaker follow in the footsteps of Toyota and Honda by re-entering the sports cars arena.
“As a business that sells 1.2 million cars worldwide, in a global sense, it’s not a big business. If you try and be in all the different segments of the market and follow trends, like sports cars, it would be difficult to be economically viable,” Lindley explained.
Instead of sports cars, the automaker is now using monikers like the Eclipse for use in crossovers. And, much to petrolheads’ dismay, it is also thought to be readying the Evolution name for an all-electric crossover.
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