2004 Mitsubishi Galant Gts on 2040-cars

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Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance completes Japan car industry consolidation

Makoto Uchida (left), president and CEO of Nissan, and Toshihiro Mibe, director, president and representative executive officer of Honda, at a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday. (Getty)   Japan’s carmakers are putting the finishing touches on a combine-and-compete strategy for an automotive age defined by batteries and software, with three manufacturers joining forces to complement a separate Toyota Motor Corp.-led coalition. Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. agreed this week to build upon a preliminary deal first reached in March, offering more details of how they plan to work together and also adding Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to the mix. While the companies havenÂ’t yet discussed a capital alliance, forming one is a possibility, Honda Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe said. The partnership will span joint work on software development, batteries and other electric-vehicle components, as well as EV charging and energy services, the three companies said. Their cozying up to one another follows Toyota acquiring stakes in Subaru Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp., and helping them navigate a fraught era for legacy car companies. Whereas Toyota has tied up with its domestic peers from a position of strength — itÂ’s been the worldÂ’s best-selling automaker for four years running — Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi each are much smaller players on the global stage. Their coming together is seen as a move by JapanÂ’s government to fortify its auto industry in the wake of China having emerged as the worldÂ’s new No. 1 car exporter. “This is coordinated by the government to build a competitive automaking industry,” said James Hong, analyst at Macquarie Securities Korea Ltd., adding that most automakers in Japan are too small to be able to invest in EVs individually. “It feels like a politically driven alliance.” While the US has had the Big Three — General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis NV — and Germany similarly has a trio in Volkswagen Group, BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz, Japan has a much bigger crop of carmakers manufacturing vehicles across the globe. Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi combined sold about 4 million vehicles globally in the first six months of the year, well shy of the 5.2 million that Toyota sold on its own. While the three touted the potential for generating synergies from working together, executives also acknowledged theyÂ’ll have to overcome contrasts with their compatriots.

The last Mitsubishi Evolution in the US sold for $76,400

UPDATE: The final Mitsubishi Evolution, Final Edition number 1,600, sold at auction for $76,400. The proceeds will go straight to Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino and Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County in celebration of Hunger Action Month. While we're sad to see the Lancer Evolution disappear, we're at least glad to see that the last one on our shores will do some good for those in need. Mitsubishi announced that the very last Lancer Evo X Final Edition for the US, number 1,600, will be auctioned on eBay for charity. The auction starts tomorrow at 9 am Pacific time and runs until Thursday, September 15 at 9 am. Considering the car's collectability and auction availability, the last Evo will probably go for well above MSRP, but that's a good thing. All of the proceeds will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank in Orange County and Feeding America in Riverside and San Bernardino, so the higher that bidding reaches for this particular car, the better. Aside from the charitable and collectible reasons, the Final Edition Evo is also the best version of the classic sport compact Mitsubishi has built. It has an extra 12 horsepower over standard and comes with the five-speed manual transmission. Plus it gets upgraded Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs and Brembo brakes. So if you want to buy the last, best version of a great car and help people while doing it, log into your eBay account this week and put in your bid. Related Video:

Mitsubishi recalling i-MiEV models for brake problem

Mitsubishi is issuing a recall for the 2010-2014 i-MiEV that affects 1,810 units of the little electric car, because it's possible for the brake vacuum pump to stop working. If this happens, the result would be longer stopping distances, according to the company. The affected models were built between September 15, 2009, and March 25, 2014.
While this is just a single recall, there are actually two things that can cause this brake problem on the i-MiEV, according to Mitsubishi's filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. First, bad programming in the EV-ECU could cause the system to "falsely judge that the relay contact point is stuck," according to the full NHTSA defect notice PDF. Second, the vacuum pump exhaust hole could be corroded and blocked due to being splashed with road salt. However, the company says that if either fault happens, the brake warning lamp would illuminate, and there would be an audible alarm.
Depending on which issue is affecting an owner's i-MiEV, Mitsubishi is going to reprogram the software, replace the pump or both. Scroll down to read the recall report from NHTSA.