2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Ix Fully Built 920hp 8 Second Drag Car $250k Invested on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Employee warned Mitsubishi execs about mileage cheating in 2005

A damning report from the committee brought in to investigate Mitsubishi's alleged fuel economy fixing scandal has revealed a new employee stepped forward and implored the company to play it straight on its mileage data... Eleven years ago. The employee, identified in the report as F, pushed for honesty during a company workshop in February 2005, The Asahi Shimbun reports. The then-new worker told 20 company officials, including senior members of the performance testing department, that the way Mitsubishi measured fuel economy was different from the way government's method. Instead of acting on F's protests, officials said they had no memory of them, the report claims. The four-person committee, made up of lawyers and industry experts, isn't buying the excuse. "It is difficult to accept their explanations that they have no recollections because a new employee pointing out such a problem must have had a (strong) impact," the report read. But F's comments weren't the only internal sign that Mitsubishi allegedly ignored. In a 2011 questionnaire, multiple employees submitted responses claiming that the company had been falsifying data. But according to the committee's report, Mitsubishi's development department issued a report denying there was even a problem, which the company's execs accepted without question. According to The Asahi Shimbun, Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko revealed that an internal investigation – which also denied F's remarks – acknowledged that the company hadn't followed government rules regarding fuel economy measurements since 1991. "We lacked unity needed to detect problems within the company and to solve them," Masuko-san said, backing up the committee report's claim that the company was divided. "From now on, we need to decide how to change our way of thinking." Related Video: News Source: The Asahi Shimbun via Motor TrendImage Credit: Toru Hanai / Reuters Government/Legal Green Mitsubishi Fuel Efficiency scandal

Mitsubishi NA gets new president and CEO

Last week, we told you that Mitsubishi will be getting a new global president, with Osamu Masuko stepping aside in favor of Tesuro Aikawa. The executive changes at the Japanese automaker are hitting closer to home, now, with official word that Mitsubishi Motors North America is getting a new president and CEO, as well. Effective March 1, Ryujiro Kobashi will take over for Yoichi Yokozawa, 49, who has been in charge since April of 2011. Yokozawa is headed back to Japan, where he will assume a spot in the company's corporate planning offices.
Kobashi, 53, has been with Mitsubishi since 1983 when he was fresh out of college. Previous to taking the top job in North America, he was installed as corporate general manager of the NA office at Mitsubishi's headquarters in Japan, where he coordinated regional operations for the US, Canada and Mexico. Before that, he held posts in planning, marketing, advertising and public relations for the company.
Kobashi takes over the company's North American operations at a pivotal time, when the region is finally showing signs of life after a prolonged period of stagnation. As Automotive News notes, Mitsubishi only sold 62,227 vehicles in the US in 2013, but that figure still represents an eight-percent increase. Its crossovers, the new-for-2014 Outlander and the two-year-old Outlander Sport have been selling relatively well, and the affordable Mirage subcompact is a new arrival at dealers.

Junkyard Gem: 2007 Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart

We began getting Mitsubishi Galants here way back in the 1971 model year, when the Colt Galant showed up bearing Dodge Colt badges. Mitsubishi didn't start selling cars with its own badging in North America until the 1983 model year, and the first Mitsubishi-badged Galants showed up on our shores as 1985 models. When the ninth and final generation of Galant appeared for 2004, it was a generic-looking Camry rival, enlarged and priced attractively but otherwise not very interesting. Then, for 2007, a sporty Ralliart version showed up. Here's one of those rare cars, found in a snowy Colorado self-service yard recently. Ralliart is the racing and performance division of Mitsubishi Motors, and I've managed to find a few Lancer Ralliarts during my junkyard travels. I'd forgotten the existence of the Galant Ralliart, I must admit, so at first glance I took this car to be an ordinary Galant with Lancer Ralliart badges pasted on. Unlike the Suzuki Works Techno badges found on Aerios and Renos of the era, these Ralliart emblems really did indicate a quicker-than-the-base-model car. The '07 Galant Ralliart got a 258-horsepower V6 and a stiffer suspension, plus a few styling touches. It certainly would have been more fun than a new Camry, though the Mazdaspeed6 was quicker. Even the soporific Camry could still be bought with a manual transmission in 2007, but not the Galant. All the US-market 2004-2012 Galants (which were built in Illinois) came with automatic transmissions. The Galant managed to hang on until 2012, by which time it had been largely forgotten by American car shoppers. That's too bad, because the gadget-packed Galant Sigma four-door hardtops of the late 1980s and screaming Galant VR-4s of a bit later were interesting machines. I still haven't found a junked VR-4, though I have spotted a discarded Galant GS-X. This one lived fast and died young-ish. Perhaps someone will grab that 6G75 engine to swap into a Chrysler K-Car. We can hope. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Hop in. It's go time! This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Taiwanese car shoppers could buy this car as the Grunder. The real gone cats preferred the Grunder Police Interceptor, of course.