Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 2016 (Photo : Facebook)
Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko confirmed that the company will no longer be coming up with new models for Mitsubishi Lancer, Pajero (Montero in some markets) and Galant. He said that they have decided to focus more on environmentally friendly cars moving forward.
According to Practical Motoring, Masuko allegedly blames the vehicles' high fuel consumption. He added that they would rather concentrate on the US market, developing cars that would fit their needs.
Masuko shared that they will be establishing a team in the US, to work with the US environment officials in ensuring that their cars would meet the strict requirements in California. Much like their competitors, Mitsubishi is also looking forward to setting up an R&D center in Silicon Valley to focus on their self-driving cars.
It was hinted that their new line of hybrid cars will be released soon, including the new Outlander PHEV and the coupe crossover which would replace Lancer. The Outlander PHEV is expected to be released in 2016, while the compact crossover will be launched in 2017.
In other news, Mitsubishi Philippines had been receiving complaints from owners due to the sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) of the vehicle. Speaking to Manila Bulletin, first vice president for marketing Froilan Dytianquin explained that they have reached out to MMC Japan to test investigate all the submitted SUA claims.
Dytianquin said that the Mitsubishi Montero is sold in more than 90 countries and aside from a few isolated cases in Australia and New Zealand, there have been no reports about unintended acceleration except in the Philippines.
"Just to clear things, recall is something made by manufacturer. If there's flaw in the design, if there's something wrong in mechanical or electronics, and as we have shown, there is no sign or no flaw or no defect on the Montero Sport," he said.
