Mitsubishi's been having a rough time of it lately here in the United States. Last year, sales fell 44.8 percent. Ouch. Even worse, Mitsu's lone U.S. manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois is way under capacity. How far under? Well, the Normal plant's website lists its capacity at 135,000 vehicles per year. Only thing is, back when that plant was a joint Chrysler/Mitsubishi venture it could pop out 240,000 cars per year. Last year, Normal made just 18,501 vehicles.
As you might imagine, Mitsubishi's uncertain as to whether the Normal plant will remain open. One solution might be to introduce and build their Triton pickup truck in the U.S.. America's been sorely lacking in the small pickup market for the last 15 years or so, and the Triton would be a welcome player to the segment.
Only thing is, because of the notorious chicken tax, Mitsubishi would need to build about 50,000 to 60,000 Tritons a year at the Normal plant to make the endeavor worthwhile. Last year's 44.8 percent drop in business meant that Mitsubishi only sold 53,986 cars and trucks last year. Anyone else sense a problem? Even if Mitsubishi's sales rebound over the 100,000 unit mark, it's doubtful that 50 to 60 percent of that total would be a small pickup truck, especially as Mitsubishi's mid-size truck, the Raider, was quietly discontinued last year.
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Front View
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Edition Picture
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Gauges
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Side View
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Car Interior
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Rear View
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Photo
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Taillight
2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Top View
2010 Mitsubishi RVR First Look
2010 Mitsubishi RVR Rear Side View
2010 Mitsubishi RVR Picture
The Lancer Evolution (colloquially known as the "EVO") is Mitsubishi's flagship sports car. Based only on the unibody of the domesticated Lancer sedan, the Evo is a rally inspired, turbocharged, all wheel drive, durable, and finely tuned automobile. The number designation of the model is most commonly a roman numeral. Evolution models prior to version V were the officially approved models for Mitsubishi's efforts in the World Rally Championship's Group A class and SCCA Pro Rally Championship. In order to follow these rules, the Evolution is based on the same platform as the Lancer. However, it is much more powerful than the Lancer, with the unibody being the only major part in common between the two. Nine street versions of the Evolution have been produced from 1993 up to today. Evolution versions VI, VII, VIII and IX did not need to meet WRC homologation requirements.
Based on the mid-engined, rear-wheel drive electric version of the i MiEV tiny city car, Mitsubishi's Sport Air Concept is a further development of the homonymous 2007 Tokyo Auto Salon show car. The i MiEV Sport Air uses a more powerful version of Mitsubishi's permanent magnet synchronous electric motor generating 60 kW or 80HP of power (vs. the i MiEV's 47 kW or 63HP) and 230 Nm of torque (180 Nm.)
