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Mitsubishi teams up with Amazon to unveil 2022 Outlander

We're all familiar with the phenomenon of the oversized Amazon package, where a box large enough for a chandelier arrives on your front step but contains nothing but nail clippers and a half-deflated string of packaging balloons. Well, the largest Amazon package we've seen is now the driveway-sized one said to enclose a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander. On February 16, the Triple Diamond marque and Amazon are joining forces to debut the carmaker's next mid-sized SUV. The pair have released a teaser showing a massive cardboard box sitting on the driveway of a super swanky house that we're not 100% sure isn't computer-generated. In any case, the point is that it will be the first car to make its debut on Amazon Live, a streaming service that we did not know existed until now. From what we can tell after a cursory skim, it's a YouTube-esque platform but where streamers talk about items that are available for sale on Amazon. And just in case there was any doubt, the teaser video comes with the disclaimer, "Amazon does not deliver vehicles." That's probably a good thing, if you don't want your 2022 Outlander to arrive pre-dented. As part of the launch, Mitsubishi Motors is also giving away one 2022 Outlander to one lucky winner. You can throw your name in the hat at Mitsubishi's website or at Amazon.com/MitsubishiOutlander between February 16 and March 31, 2021. We already have a pretty good idea of what the 2022 Outlander will look like, thanks to leaked photos and Mitsubishi's own teaser video. Its sheetmetal is based on the Engelberg Tourer, named after the Swiss ski resort, and is quite a bold departure from the current Mitsubishi corporate face.  Underneath, we're expecting two drivetrains. One is a Nissan 181-horsepower, 2.5-liter inline-four mated to a CVT for entry-level models. The second is a Mitsubishi-built plug-in hybrid variant mated to a 2.4-liter engine. Early reports say that it could double the battery-only range from 22 to 43 miles. The unveiling will take place at 6:00 pm Eastern Time. Hopefully, no porch bandits steal the box before then. You can see the teaser video here. Related Video:

Mitsubishi reportedly plans to spend billions to get back in the game

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors reportedly plans to inject more than 600 billion yen ($5.35 billion) in capital spending and research and development over the next three years through fiscal 2019 in a bid to turn around its business after recent scandals. The Nikkei newspaper said the new plan calls for spending 5 percent of annual sales on equipment and the same proportion on R&D. Funds will be used by the company for the development of electrified vehicles such as the new e-Evolution concept and for production in China and Indonesia. Mitsubishi Motors will release the specifics of the new medium-term plan on Wednesday, the business daily said. ($1 = 112.1600 yen) Reporting by Sumeet Gaikwad Related Video: Image Credit: Reuters Earnings/Financials Green Plants/Manufacturing Mitsubishi Technology Emerging Technologies Electric research and development nikkei

Weekly Recap: Toyota wants cars to be your 'close friends' around 2020

Toyota confirmed plans this week to launch autonomous technology in its production cars around 2020. The automaker's version is called Highway Teammate, and it's one element of a broader mobility strategy that includes vehicles communicating with each other and the grid. "Toyota believes that interactions between drivers and cars should mirror those between close friends who share a common purpose, sometimes watching over each other and sometimes helping each other out," the company said in a statement. That sounds utopian, and perhaps a bit cheesy, but it's an acknowledgment that autonomous driving requires more than technology developed in a vacuum. Toyota is looking at its research in a broader context, and dubs its overall strategy the Mobility Teammate Concept. Highway Teammate is the first step. Its test vehicle is a modified Lexus GS, which uses road-mapping data and external sensors to merge or exit highways, change lanes, and maintain safe distances during driving. It's operated on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. Toyota has been working on autonomous tech since the 1990s, with the goal of providing mobility for older people and the disabled, as well as lowering the frequency of traffic accidents. Toyota's push comes as an early adopter, Nissan, is hedging on its own deadline to implement the autonomous tech by 2020 due to a lack of firm laws governing self-driving cars around the world. Conversely, Volvo took the landmark step of being the first automaker to accept liability for when its cars will operate in autonomous mode, and urged the US government to set federal guidelines to regulate the technology. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 BMW M4 GTS: Your water-injected, turbo-boosted demon BMW is unleashing its most powerful M4 ever, a 493-horsepower special edition that's road legal yet bred for the track. The company is making 700 copies for sale around the world, and 300 of them will come to the United States. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder revs to 7,600 rpm and uses a water-injection technology to cool the intake air and lower the compression temperature. BMW says this allows it to wring more power out of the inline six. The car also uses carbon-fiber reinforced plastic for the roof, hood, engine compartment strut brace, drive shaft, and rear spoiler to reduce weight. The M4 features BMW's organic light-emitting diode taillights, which are said to be an industry first.