The days of the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO and 3000GT are long gone… Or are they?
At the international reveal of its second plug-in hybrid SUV, the new 2021 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV, the Japanese car-maker’s global design boss Seiji Watanabe told journalists that he believes the triple-diamond brand will return to its performance roots.
And it could be in the form of a “super-high-performance” electrified SUV.
“Though I feel in the future, Mitsubishi I think wants to push more performance design. This is a starting point. Just a starting point, right,” he said of the coupe-like Eclipse Cross.
“This is just a personal opinion – I cannot say the detail of the future. But for me, for Mitsubishi, the strongest (idea) is one of performance” he declared.
Although there was no mention of a reborn Mitsubishi 3000GT using the brand’s next-generation plug-in hybrid technology and Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC) – and potentially alliance partner Nissan’s sports car platform architecture – Watanabe said the company is ready to add spice to its SUV portfolio.
He observed that a combination of Mitsubishi’s “very powerful” next-gen PHEV system with its S-AWC system could provide the basis for a “super-high-performance SUV” to rival the likes of the new turbo-petrol Subaru Forester and Volkswagen Tiguan R.
“I feel that after driving the PHEV system, including the next-generation PHEV also, I had a very strong impression that it’s so smooth, so fast, so quiet. Yet very, very powerful and very, very – how do you say? – controllable, manoeuvrable driving. We can provide that super-high-performance SUV and 4WD system in the future,” he said.
The Mitsubishi executive also stated: “I drive the couple of vehicles that have Mitsubishi S-AWC system, it is so nice, so stable.
“It will give the customer confidence driving.”
Even with a couple of high-performance aces up its sleeve – namely PHEV and S-AWC – Mitsubishi will be beholden to the comprehensive strategy guiding alliance partners Renault and Nissan, which at this stage has not officially referred to specific sports models for Mitsubishi but could see the technology shared across the group.
While both Renault and Nissan have extensive and quasi-independent performance arms – NISMO, Alpine, RS – it’s entirely possible Mitsubishi will continue to soldier on as a bread-and-butter brand without a modicum of excitement to its name.
Or do Watanabe’s comments provide the first indication that Mitsubishi is planning a return to the performance stage with a red-hot electrified SUV?