Photo: automotivedesignplanet / Instagram
We have said it and will hold ground on this assessment for a good while – Mitsubishi is a shadow of a shadow of its former self, at least in North America.
The Japanese automaker currently sells the $16,695 Mirage hatchback and $17,795 Mirage G4 sedan – and they're some of the cheapest cars available on the US automotive market. However, they will soon bow out because, despite their low MSRPs, they aren't exactly enticing to customers who don't like their tired looks and obsolete technology.
Then there's the $23,695 Outlander Sport – another relic of the past, followed by the $26,345 Eclipse Cross that makes sports car fans cry whenever it showcases its quirky styling on the street. The only Mitsubishi worth your money is, as always, the Outlander series – starting from $28,395 and $40,345 when selecting the plug-in hybrid version of the compact crossover SUV.
But with just one nameplate, you can't survive; even though sales during the first quarter for Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) rose by almost 36%, they were still barely above $28k vehicles in terms of deliveries! That's astonishingly bad – even Mazda sold more than 100k vehicles from January to March!
Anyway, salvation is coming – says Mitsubishi. They have recently announced Momentum 2030, their new five-year business plan for North America, which comes with advances across the electrification field (hybrid, PHEV, and even all-electric), more dealers, additional technologies, and new or refreshed vehicles arriving on a regular basis while the company also expands across more segments. The rumor mill believes that Mitsubishi will bring a minivan to America based on the recent D:X concept, but we have to ask – are they really banking on a sector that's almost defunct for a revival?
In fact, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has a different plan – and brought to our attention by the good folks over at automotivedesignplanet, this independent creation was done by Stefan Syarov (aka syarov.design) and is nicknamed Mitsubishi Kaminari. By the way, it means 'thunder' in Japanese and allegedly stands for "power and precision."
More precisely, "in the fast-changing world of cars, a new model is set to change the Performance Utility Vehicles (PUVs). The Kaminari is more than just a vehicle; it's a game-changer. It combines Mitsubishi's rich history of off-road capability with the newest electric technology, offering unmatched performance and reliability on all types of terrain." Of course, unfortunately, it's an unofficial design project that has nothing to do with Mitsubishi's design team.
The looks are quite sleek – the potential technical specifications make it a dune basher/rock crawler, but it's also capable of standing out in any crowd with its fastback design featuring small windows and a racked windshield plus a curved rear glass. Being just a wishful thinking creation, there are no technical details beyond the fact that it's got zero emissions – and unfortunately, it will probably never see the light of a real day for a trail adventure, although Mitsubishi desperately needs a new halo model to show the world it's still alive and kicking.
So, what do you think? Would Mitsubishi's corner office head honchos ever dare to go back to their sporty and off-road rally roots with a hero model that combines that heritage with cutting-edge all-electric powertrain technology?
Then there's the $23,695 Outlander Sport – another relic of the past, followed by the $26,345 Eclipse Cross that makes sports car fans cry whenever it showcases its quirky styling on the street. The only Mitsubishi worth your money is, as always, the Outlander series – starting from $28,395 and $40,345 when selecting the plug-in hybrid version of the compact crossover SUV.
But with just one nameplate, you can't survive; even though sales during the first quarter for Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) rose by almost 36%, they were still barely above $28k vehicles in terms of deliveries! That's astonishingly bad – even Mazda sold more than 100k vehicles from January to March!
Anyway, salvation is coming – says Mitsubishi. They have recently announced Momentum 2030, their new five-year business plan for North America, which comes with advances across the electrification field (hybrid, PHEV, and even all-electric), more dealers, additional technologies, and new or refreshed vehicles arriving on a regular basis while the company also expands across more segments. The rumor mill believes that Mitsubishi will bring a minivan to America based on the recent D:X concept, but we have to ask – are they really banking on a sector that's almost defunct for a revival?
In fact, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has a different plan – and brought to our attention by the good folks over at automotivedesignplanet, this independent creation was done by Stefan Syarov (aka syarov.design) and is nicknamed Mitsubishi Kaminari. By the way, it means 'thunder' in Japanese and allegedly stands for "power and precision."
More precisely, "in the fast-changing world of cars, a new model is set to change the Performance Utility Vehicles (PUVs). The Kaminari is more than just a vehicle; it's a game-changer. It combines Mitsubishi's rich history of off-road capability with the newest electric technology, offering unmatched performance and reliability on all types of terrain." Of course, unfortunately, it's an unofficial design project that has nothing to do with Mitsubishi's design team.
The looks are quite sleek – the potential technical specifications make it a dune basher/rock crawler, but it's also capable of standing out in any crowd with its fastback design featuring small windows and a racked windshield plus a curved rear glass. Being just a wishful thinking creation, there are no technical details beyond the fact that it's got zero emissions – and unfortunately, it will probably never see the light of a real day for a trail adventure, although Mitsubishi desperately needs a new halo model to show the world it's still alive and kicking.
So, what do you think? Would Mitsubishi's corner office head honchos ever dare to go back to their sporty and off-road rally roots with a hero model that combines that heritage with cutting-edge all-electric powertrain technology?
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