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Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV gets major powertrain updates, Geneva reveal

Mitsubishi will put seven of its wares on display during press days at the Geneva Motor Show, the headliner being an updated 2019 Outlander PHEV. Engineers have upgraded the entire hybrid powertrain, starting with the switch from a 2.0-liter Otto cycle gas engine to a 2.4-liter Atkinson cycle gas engine. Mitsubishi hasn't revealed output numbers, but the carmaker promises "higher torque, smoother operation, and overall higher efficiency." Generator output, rear motor output, and lithium-ion drive battery output all go up by 10 percent, and battery capacity gets a 15 percent boost. Going off the specs on the Mitsubishi Cars site, that would take the rear motor up to 66 kWh and the battery capacity from 12 kWh to 13.8 kWh. Along with the extra battery output, the 2019 Outlander PHEV should be expected to switch into EV mode more often, and stay there longer. Two drive modes join the current programming, Sport and Snow sidling up with Normal and 4WD Lock. One must look closely to note the exterior revisions, almost all of which are up front: a new graphic on the front grille, new LED headlights, rectangular foglight bezels, and a more prominent front skid plate. A "more elaborate" two-tone, 18-inch wheel shakes things up along the flanks, a larger rear spoiler holds things down out back. We probably won't get a look at the interior until Geneva, but "new quilted fine leather upholstery, all-new hip-hugging front seats, revised switchgear, a new instrument panel, new trimming, rear A/C outlets, and more" await us. The new Outlander PHEV gets to Europe in late 2018, likely greeted with the same fever that's seen the SUV move 100,000 units there in three years. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder

When Chrysler and Mitsubishi partnered to establish the Diamond-Star Motors plant in Illinois, the first cars built at that facility were 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipses along with their Eagle Talon and Plymouth Laser twins. The Eclipse went through four generations, with 2012 as the final model year. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of the very last Eclipses, found in a Denver car graveyard recently. This generation of Eclipse was built starting with the 2006 model year, and it was based on a platform shared with the Galant and Endeavor. It was substantially larger than the early Eclipses, scaling in at nearly 3,500 pounds. The Spyder convertible version of the fourth-gen Eclipse debuted in the United States as a 2007 model. Sales were never strong and became downright miserable by the end, with fewer than a thousand 2012 Eclipses (both coupes and convertibles) leaving showrooms. This car is a base-grade GS with automatic transmission, and its VIN indicates that it was built for fleet sale. This would have been a fun rental car, at least compared to the Dodge Nitros and Kia Rios that stocked rental fleets in the early 2010s. The engine is a 2.4-liter SOHC straight-four rated at 162 horsepower and 162 pound-feet. The MSRP was $27,999, or about $38,581 in 2024 dollars. 2012 was also the final year for the Galant in the United States, though that was the model year in which the i-MiEV went on sale here. For the 2018 model year, Mitsubishi revived the Eclipse name — sort of — for the Outlander-derived Eclipse Cross compact SUV, which is still being built to this day. Rare? Very. Valuable? No. You could get the Eclipse Spyder with a 650-watt sound system. Driven to thrill.

Fiat taps Mitsubishi for European pickup

Mitsubishi is often derided in the US for its relatively boring lineup, Lancer Evolution aside, but the company is on the upswing worldwide, recently posting record global operating profits. The Japanese automaker may get a further boost in the near future from a rumored pickup truck deal with Fiat.
According to insider sources speaking to Automotive News Europe, Mitsubishi would reportedly build a variant of its widely respected L200 pickup truck for the Fiat Professional brand in Europe and Latin America starting in 2016. The L200 is larger than the Fiat Strada front-wheel-drive pickup already available in those markets, and it's available in rear- and four-wheel-drive configurations. The idea of adding a midsize truck to the commercial lineup was in the Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles five-year plan, but it didn't include any mention of a partnership to build it.
At first blush, the Mitsubishi agreement seems like an odd move, given that Fiat already owns pickup truck specialists Ram. However, according to ANE, the company had at one time planned to use a version of a new Dodge Dakota pickup for duty in Europe and Latin America, but the model never came to fruition.