2000 Mitsubishi Mirage on 2040-cars

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Toyota, Honda, Nissan and more collaborating to increase fuel efficiency

Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Daihatsu have announced an alliance that will see a push to improve fuel economy from both gas-powered and diesel-powered engines by as much as 30 percent before the end of the decade.
The newly assembled Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines put the roughly $20-million project together, with the Japanese government committing to half the cost while the eight manufacturers will chip in the rest.
According to Automotive News, the automakers will team up and share basic research on internal-combustion engines in a bid to cut costs. Eventually, the results of the research will find its way into a production vehicle, although it's unclear just when we'll see the fruits of this partnership on the road.

Mitsubishi's first US chairman since 2007 charged with revitalizing brand

Have a look at Mitsubishi North America's vehicle page and you'll find seven cars in four model lines: i-MiEV electric hatch, Lancer sedan, Lancer Evolution and Sportback, Outlander and Outlander Sport, and Galant sedan. The Galant has 3.9 tires in the automotive grave, and the only hope for mainstream excitement, the Eclipse coupe and Spyder, had hemlock poured down their crankcases last year. Increasing the quotient of bleak, the Lancer isn't due for a refresh until 2014, the coming Outlander PHEV will sell in miniscule numbers when it does arrive, a little sports car has been nixed and the only other Mitsu being considered for our landmass is the Colt, which, for its stellar fuel economy numbers, looks like a car designed by Pikachu. There's also that matter of declining NA market share in a rising overall market, Mitsubishi's piece of the total pie currently hovering around the 0.4-percent mark according to Automotive News.
The company has decided to do more about it, reassigning Executive Vice President and Head Officer of the Headquarters Product Projects & Strategy Group Gayu Uesugi to be the new chairman of Mitsubishi Motors North America. It will be the first time in five years that someone has filled the chairman position at MMNA.
The hope is that with Uesugi's 35 years with the company, his experience in the company's global product plan and his success in emerging market strategy, he's the man to "[develop] a product plan and growth strategy for the US market" that will put things right. Or at least better. He will work with Yoichi Yokozawa, who has been CEO of MMNA since last year. There are more details on the move in the press release below.

Mitsubishi rolls out new Triton pickup [w/videos]

Of all the automakers producing pickup trucks these days, even among just the Japanese automakers, Mitsubishi might not spring to mind first. But maybe it should. The Diamond-Star company has been in the game now for 36 years, selling over four million pickups around the world. These days that comes down principally to the Triton, of which it sold over a third of a million units last year alone for a total of over 1.2 million produced since its introduction in 2005. Now, after nine years on the market, Mitsubishi has launched a new version.
Clearly drawing its stylistic influence (if not the hybrid powertrain) from the GR-HEV concept Mitsubishi showcased at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the new Triton aims to combine "the comfortable interior of a passenger car with the functionality and reliability of a pickup." It's more stylish, more comfortable and safer than the model it replaces, and comes in an array of configurations.
Buyers of the new Triton (known in some markets as the L200, among other nameplates it's worn over the years) will be able to choose between Single, Double and Club Cab variants. Powertrain choices will vary by market, but will be based around three engines: a 2.4-liter gasoline unit, a 2.5-liter turbodiesel and a new 2.4-liter turbodiesel with electronic valve timing.