Monday, June 3, 2013

The exception becomes the rule

I was sitting at a traffic light this morning when from behind me to my right, I heard the high-strung, muscular exhaust note of a performance car. It was unmistakable. When the car slowed to a stop next to me I saw that it was a Mitsubishi Evo.

Evo MR Premium.       photo credit: Mitsubishi Motors
As quickly as I began to admire the car, I realized how much I hate every other model in Mitsubishi's line-up.  And it's not that they are bad cars. But how can an automaker that makes one of the most dynamic and unmistakable cars on the road be responsible for such boredom-inducing vehicles as the Outlander, Galant, and Lancer? If you're like me, you had to look up those vehicles because you can't actually remember what they look like.

In the world of Mitsubishi, the Evo is the exception, and the other three are the rule. That's bad news for the company, when the exception is automotive excellence, and the rule is hardly worth mentioning. That strategy made sense once upon a time, when the company could almost be seen as a challenger in the family car market. It was looking to blend in with the Hondas and Toyotas. Today, with a lineup that really comprises 3.5 models and sold 41,000 units in North America in 2012, Mitsubishi needs to find itself a niche to live in and dominate.

To find that niche, they should be looking no further than the Evo. Its performance has been compared to a Porsche. Its raw, visceral characteristics make it a fan favorite with the boy-racer types, and its closest competitor, the Subaru Imprezza WRX STi, cannot compete with its numbers. This is the kind of car that Mitsubishi should be making across the lineup.

2007 Mitsubishi Baja Raider.  
photo: topspeed.com
Imagine a small SUV with Baja 1000 aspirations. Imagine the Eclipse, reincarnated with a serious engine and track specs to make the Nissan GT-R nervous.Imagine a small hatchback, the size of a Fiat, with the ability to run circles around a John Cooper Works.

Before you say, "that's crazy!" remember the specs on the Evo: 0-60 mph in 5.1 seconds and back to 0 again in 109 feet. It has competed with cars way outside its class and with two fewer doors and still triumphed. The Evo proved that at $35,000, Mitsubishi could offer prospective buyers an alternative to BMW and Audi. With a little courage and imagination, Mitsubishi could do the same thing and build other cars that compete in ways never before imagined.




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