1997 Mitsubishi Galant Es 2.4l 4 Cylinder Auto Great Gas Mileage 1 Owner on 2040-cars

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FCA compromises with France, moving Renault merger bid forward

FRANKFURT/PARIS – Renault directors were preparing to review Fiat Chrysler's $35 billion merger offer on Tuesday, after the Italian-American carmaker resolved differences with the French government overnight, three sources said. The compromise on French government influence over a combined FCA-Renault may clear the way for Renault's board to approve a framework agreement beginning the long process of a full merger, unless new issues surface at the meeting. France, Renault's biggest shareholder with a 15% stake, had been pressing for its own guaranteed seat on the new board and an effective veto on CEO appointments. But after late-night talks with FCA Chairman John Elkann, the French government has accepted a compromise that would see it occupy one of four board seats allocated to Renault, balanced by four FCA appointees, the sources said. Renault would also cede one of its two seats on a four-member CEO nominations committee to the French state, they said. Renault, FCA and the French government all declined to comment on the discussions. The same evening that the compromise was was negotiated, activist hedge fund CIAM wrote to the board of Renault to say it "strongly opposed" a planned $35 billion merger with Fiat Chrysler. Calling the deal "opportunistic," the fund said the current deal terms strongly favored Fiat Chrysler and offered no control premium. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Laurence Frost; additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan and Simon Jessop; editing by Jason Neely and Rachel Armstrong) Government/Legal Chrysler Fiat Mitsubishi Nissan Renault merger

Mitsubishi ready to pull Evo's plug

We have all manner of unofficial metrics in the auto industry. No doubt you've heard some of them, like the butt dyno. Another popular measure is the smiles-per-dollar index - how entertaining is a car versus its price. Cars like the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Scion FR-S and Mini Cooper S, for example, score quite highly, while vehicles like the BMW M5 or Audi RS7 are great to drive, but score lower because of their much higher price tags. For a long time, the king of the smiles-per-dollar index was arguably the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, which blended hair-raising thrills for the price of a well-equipped Ford Fusion Titanium.
Now, it looks like the Evo will need to hand over its title, as this generation of the rally-derived rocket is likely to be Mitsubishi's last - at least for a while. There's been no mention of just when production of the current car will end, so if you're in the market, we'd suggest trying to find a dealer with inventory ASAP. The news comes from the automaker's Japanese mothership, which says the brand will instead focus on utility vehicles and EVs. While there are no direct plans for a successor, an Evo XI as it were, the door remains open for a different kind of beast, according to Mitsubishi.
"Mitsubishi Motors does not have any plans to design a successor with the current concept, as a high-performance four-wheel drive gasoline-powered sedan," said Namie Koketsu, a spokesperson for Mitsubishi, according to Automotive News. "Mitsubishi Motors will explore the possibilities of high-performance models that incorporate electric vehicle technology."

Junkyard Gem: 1994 Mitsubishi Diamante ES Sedan

Once the decade of the 1990s got rolling, the Lexus LS400, Toyota Cressida, Infiniti Q45, Acura Legend and Mazda 929 had proven that big Japanese-made luxury sedans could rack up respectable sales in the United States. Mitsubishi dove into that competition starting with the 1992 model year, when the Diamante arrived on our shores. Here's one of those early Diamantes, found in an Oklahoma City car graveyard recently. Mitsubishi had been selling big, swanky Debonairs at home since the middle 1960s, but that car was never sold new in North America (though a Debonair-related Hyundai, the XG300/XG350, did show up here). The Diamante was based on an enlarged Galant/Sigma platform and was available here as a pillared hardtop four-door sedan (in which there is a narrow B pillar but the door windows are frameless) and as a station wagon. The US-market sedan was built in Japan, while the wagon came from Australia. The Diamante's price tag made it tempting for American buyers considering Japanese luxury sedans. The base ES sedan listed for $25,525 in 1994, which comes to about $53,097 in 2023 dollars. Meanwhile, the Mazda 929 started at $30,500 ($63,446 now), the Acura Legend sedan cost $33,800 ($70,311 now), the Infiniti Q45 listed at $49,450 ($102,866 now) and the Lexus LS400 was $51,200 ($106,507 now). The higher-zoot Diamante LS (which cost $32,500 in 1994) got a twin-cam 6G72 V6 driving the front wheels with 202 horsepower, but today's Junkyard Gem is a base ES and it has the SOHC 6G72 with just 175 horses. Mitsubishi built Diamantes with manual transmissions, but we didn't get those cars on our side of the Pacific. A four-speed automatic transmission was mandatory equipment in North American Diamantes. This car didn't quite make it to 140,000 miles during its career. It appears that this car passed through the hands of both Fred Jones and a lesser-known outfit called Amigoland Motors during its life. This generation of Diamante remained on sale in the United States through the 1996 model year, but sales never measured up to Mitsubishi's hopes. The wagon got the axe after 1995, at which time the ES sedan became a fleet-sales-only machine. For 1996, all Diamantes sold here were fleet cars. For 1997, a new generation of Diamante showed up; sales continued through 2004. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. For Mitsubishi's diamond anniversary, the precious Diamante (with cheap lease terms).