The 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has just started production in Japan and will make its dealer launch here in the U.S. soon. Will fans buy a PHEV EVO?
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Mitsubishi is getting ready to launch the 2015 Lancer Evolution here in the U.S. and it will sell well. MItsubishi Motors North America released sales figures of the Lancer Evolution and this was the best January through June sales total since 2008 for the EVO. Lancer Evolution sales totaled 1,569 for June and are up 14.5 percent year-to-date. There is a huge fan base of EVO fans who still want the performance car.
Mitsubishi is seeing this demand for the EVO X but is still going to axe the popular model after the 2015 model year here in the U.S. This will be the last generation of the performance car with a gas-only powertrain. It looks like Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) is designing a new Lancer Evolution successor that will have a high-performance hybrid powerplant.
What is Mitsubishi up to?
Current EVO fans want Mitsubishi to continue to build the rally-bred performance car. Lancer Relliart and Lancer EVO are more popular than ever and performance fans are snatching up the models faster than ever. 2014 Lancer EVO X fans are showing Mitsubishi the way they need to go with the Rally-bred performance model. What is Mitsubishi up to?
MMC is testing a rally Outlander PHEV
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will run in the Asia Cross Country Rally from Thailand to Cambodia. This is the second straight year Mitsubishi will run an Outlander PHEV in the race. MMC engineers will provide technical support for the Two & Four Motor Sports rally team, headed by Kenji Ishida for the plug-in hybrid four-wheel drive SUV for the duration of the rally. Mitsubishi Motors will use the data gathered from this race to provide technical support for future PHEV performance vehicle development.
MMC wins big at Pikes Peak
Mitsubishi entered two MiEV Evolution III all-electric racecars in the Electric Modified Division at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and achieved a one-two victory. MMC wants to show how an all-electric vehicle can perform under extreme conditions and they succeeded in a big way. MMC engineers were on hand to learn how this technology holds up in extreme race conditions. We are likely looking at the technology MMC will use in the 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution successor.
Will EVO fans buy a PHEV EVO?
When EVO fans see the kind of performance this new-generation Lancer Evolution can produce, they will get on board in a big way. This younger performance-minded generation understands the need for performance cars to be environmentally friendly. The new-generation performance car will offer the best of both worlds. All we have to do is look at these recent race results to see the performance that will be available. There are large numbers of performance fans who will buy this new technology in a performance car.
The 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is the last of its kind, but Mitsubishi isn’t done with Rally racing yet and will use the valuable information the MMC engineers gather from the new Outlander PHEV and the MiEV Evolution III all-electric racecars for the next-generation Lancer Evolution development. Stay tuned.
Image Source: Mitsubishi via fan Michael R. of Orange County, CA
Other 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution stories of interest.
This 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO will be first and last
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