news

Mitsubishi has no plans for Toyota 86 rival

The global president of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) says his company currently has no plans to create a small sports car to rival that of the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ.


Speaking to the Australian media at the Sydney motor show today, Osamu Masuki, said that Mitsubishi engineers are very keen to make a small rear-wheel drive sports car but the financials need to add up.

“Our engineers are very, very keen to make that (sports car). Our engineers are very prominent to investigate new technologies, but to use that technology they are not that good to bring the revenue or make money.” He said lightheartedly.

Mitsubishi has a rich history in sports car development, with the iconic Lancer Evolution now in its tenth iteration and still regarded as one of the best driver’s cars in its class. The company has also built models such as the front-wheel drive FTO sport coupe and the most serious of all, the AWD Mitsubishi 3000GT (GTO) which was built from 1990 to 2001.

Masuki admits that Mitsubishi is looking to use as few platforms as possible to create as many models as possible and therefore needs to justify the development cost and return on investment of a sports car.

“We have to identify if it is really feasible economically, we are thinking of just sharing just one platform to achieve various models.”

Nonetheless, there’s still a possibility that a business case could be made in the future. Even if Mitsubishi has to do all the work itself, which is unlike Toyota and Subaru as they shared the development cost and resources for the joint venture.

“I won’t say no to a small sports car but at the moment we have not decided on any particular model”.

Do you think Mitsubishi needs another sport car or is the Lancer Evolution enough?

MORE:Mitsubishi Showroom
MORE:Mitsubishi News
MORE:Mitsubishi Reviews
MORE:Search Used Mitsubishi Cars for Sale
MORE:Mitsubishi Showroom
MORE:Mitsubishi News
MORE:Mitsubishi Reviews
MORE:Search Used Mitsubishi Cars for Sale
Chat with us!







Chat with Agent