Mitsubishi Putting It All On Green
The Japanese auto maker is betting a lot on their latest US investment, the fully electric Mitsubishi i. Mitsubishi is hoping to give their American sales figures a kick in the rear-end – they’ll start off with a huge endeavor, focused around the sale of “Green cars” as part of a global plan. Mitsubishi will offer up six plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles by 2015.
The Mitsubishi i hits dealerships this November, in Hawaii, California and other Western states, and will offer a 70 mile range for under $30,000 before tax incentives. Mitsu’s i (known as the i-MiEV overseas) is the first of those six plug-in / hybrid cars.
Mitsubishi is also letting some models go, as part of this new plan: three low sellers will be disposed of by 2013: Galant midsize sedan, Eclipse coupe and Endeavor SUV. Mitsubishi will bring in replacements for all, but expect those to be smaller and have hybrid drive trains.
“Combining small-footprint cars with electrification is a natural strategy,” Moe Durand, a Mitsubishi spokesperson, said. He added, “clean-diesel technology — especially expensive exhaust-treatment systems — was too expensive to install profitably on smaller, more affordable cars. It seems the only way to meet regulatory targets in several markets is to aggressively leverage battery technology.”
One vehicle that is not as green as the rest of Mitsubishi’s future will stick around – the “Evo Lancer” also known as the Evolution, an enhanced version of Lancer, will remain in the company’s line up. The car has a huge cult following.
So, is Mitsubishi putting all their eggs in a very fragile “eco car” basket? Or will they be ahead of the curve when EV’s go mainstream?
Source: NY Times
Leave a Reply