Mitsubishi large sedan on ice

The future of Mitsubishi's next-generation flagship passenger car, a large car replacement for the now defunct Galant/380, is on shaky ground after a senior Mitsubishi executive put the kibosh on a platform-sharing deal that would speed up the process.

Don Swearingen, the executive vice president of Mitsubishi Motors North America, told AutomotiveNews.com the platform-sharing alliance with Renault-Nissan, which would deliver a new large car, has "stalled".

Swearingen was speaking to dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association in the USA, who were anticipating a relaunched Mitsubishi Galant soon, a car that has been missing in the USA but would otherwise compete in a crucial (and lucrative) market segment where the Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry reign supreme.

Mitsubishi had originally planned to use Renault-Nissan's new CMF (common module family) platform to underpin its next large and small cars, or D- and C-segment vehicles, but Swearingen's admission does not bode well for the timely replacement of these key vehicles – namely the Galant and by extension the Lancer.

"I told them that the plan has stalled," Swearingen revealed. "And I said [to dealers] that's really all I can tell you at this time," he added.

It's not clear whether this turn of events is merely a minor hurdle or major roadblock for Mitsubishi, which is in dire need of a new platform to replace its important passenger car duo.

Of more interest to the Australian market, as Mitsubishi hasn't sold a large car here since the demise of the (US Galant-based) 380 sedan in 2008, is the Mitsubishi Lancer's replacement. The current Lancer is now eight years old, the vehicle introduced back in 2007, although it's unclear if the 'stalling' of the large car platform-sharing deal with Renault-Nissan will affect the Lancer too.

In November 2013 at the Tokyo motor show Mitsubishi announced that it had formed an alliance with the Renault-Nissan group with a view towards using the CMF platform that underpins the Nissan Qashqai and upcoming Renault Kadjar  SUV to fast-track all-new versions of its large and small cars.

Swearingen cautioned that negotiations with Renault-Nissan are still ongoing, meaning the new Lancer could yet have the same underpinnings as the next Renault Megane. His final comment was "All options are still open".

The benefit for Renault-Nissan in the tie-up with Mitsubishi was to be electric vehicle (EV) technology, and one scenario is that Mitsubishi needs to bring more to the table to seal the deal.

The reason for Mitsubishi's lack of development progress on its new passenger cars is because it has focussed engineering resources on upcoming SUVs like the Pajero, ASX and Challenger.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia's head of corporate communications, Shayna Welsh, told motoring.com.au the platform sharing deal with Renault-Nissan was still on track.

"Until we hear otherwise, the next Lancer will be platform-sharing with Renault-Nissan," she said.

The Lancer small car remains an important part of Mitsubishi Australia's range, as the third best-selling model, behind the ASX compact SUV and Triton commercial ute. However Lancer sales of 10,033 in 2014 are down on the 2013 tally of 11,408, a 12 per cent dip.

Mitsubishi's total annual sales fell four per cent, from 71,528 in 2013 to 68,638 in 2014.