2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Es Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Nissan, Renault reveal how they'll reshape alliance to cut costs, regain profit

TOKYO — The auto alliance of Nissan and Renault said Wednesday it will be sharing more vehicle parts, technology and models to save costs as the industry struggles to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Alliance Operating Board Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said the group, which also includes smaller Japanese automaker Mitsubishi, will have each company focusing on geographic regions. “There is no plan for a merger of our companies,” the chairman said. “Our model today is a very distinctive model ... we donÂ’t need a merger to be efficient.” He stressed the alliance needs to adjust to the “unprecedented economic crisis,” to pursue efficiency and competitiveness, not sheer sales volumes. “Now is the time to rebuild,” Senard said, making clear he believed the alliance remained strong. All automakers are suffering from the pandemic, and scaling back or suspending production, but Nissan was reeling before the crisis struck from a scandal involving its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn. Yokohama-based Nissan is due to report its annual results on Thursday and has forecast it will slip into its first yearly loss in 11 years. Under the latest so-called leader-follower initiative, Nissan will focus on China, North America and Japan; Renault on Europe, Russia and South America and North Africa, and Mitsubishi on Southeast Asia and Oceania, for the benefit of the entire alliance. Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said the alliance planned to pursue fiscal strength together. “The synergy is huge,” he said. The number of vehicles sharing the same platform will double by 2024, saving 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), according to Senard. The shared technology will also include electric cars and autonomous driving, platforms and car bodies, the executives said. Nissan is a leader in electric cars with its Leaf, but such technology will be available to the other alliance members, they said. The companies gave few details of how the revamp would deliver in the short term, as the car industry grapples with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and pressure to develop less polluting vehicles. They said in a joint statement that they aimed to produce nearly half of their vehicles under the new leader-follower approach by 2025 and hoped to cut investment per model in the scheme by up to 40%. The range of vehicles they produce is expected to fall by 20% by 2025 though the firms did not say how many jobs would go as they shift production.

Next-gen Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV gets more power all over

Looks like it's official — the U.S. will finally get the upgraded Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV that's been on sale in Europe and Japan since late 2018. AutoGuide perused documents Mitsubishi filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 2021 product lineup. The paperwork shows a 2.4-liter engine with 126 horsepower replacing the 2.0-liter with 117 hp in the current U.S.-market Outlander plug-in hybrid. We've expected the engine change for a while, but we didn't have a horsepower rating before. The version on sale in Europe gets 133 hp from the 2.4-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder, while promising "higher torque, smoother operation, and overall higher efficiency." We'll get the 13.8-kWh battery, up from the 12-kWh unit currently installed, and the rear electric motor gets bumped up to 93 hp, same as overseas. The e-motor on the front axle holds steady at 80 hp. Unless Mitsubishi has model-year shenanigans in mind, the documents describe the next-gen Outlander that's been promised for debut later this year. It will ride on a Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance platform, expected to be the same architecture shared with the next-gen 2021 Nissan Rogue. The current Outlander and Rogue are just 0.3 inches apart, and both are expected to grow in size. The new Outlander's exterior will glean cues from the Engelberg Tourer concept (shown below) like vertically-oriented headlights, a reshaped greenhouse, and a larger rear roof spoiler. If Mitsubishi carries over the rest of the upgrades afforded the international Outlander PHEV versions, we're in for a more powerful generator, and new Sport and Snow modes. The suspension and 4WD Lock were also bolstered on the current crossover, but with an all-new generation, we'd expect thorough overhauls in hardware and software. The real prize will be finding out how much EV range the next plug-in hybrid Outlander promises beyond the 22 miles available on the current model. On Japan's testing cycle, the new powertrain extended all-electric driving from 37.8 miles to 40.4 miles. Mitsubishi Engelberg Tourer Concept View 10 Photos Related Video:    

2016 Mitsubishi Outlander First Drive

"There is a golden hour between life and death. If you are critically injured you have less than 60 minutes to survive. You might not die right then; it may be three days or two weeks later – but something has happened in your body that is irreparable." That quote is from Dr. R. Adams Cowley, widely viewed as the father of modern-day trauma medicine. It's an apt description of the straits Mitsubishi finds itself in here in the United States. The company's golden hour has been a long time coming, but with the death of the Lancer Evolution, and a stable that consists of the ancient Lancer, the lamentable Outlander Sport and the abhorrent Mirage, the 2016 Outlander marks the start of this vital 60 minutes. It was with this in mind that we shipped out to San Francisco to test the company's latest compact CUV. Technically a facelifted version of the crossover that debuted at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, Mitsubishi made over 100 changes as part of this refresh. The exterior changes strip away some of the Outlander's boring, conservative elements in favor of a new design language called "Dynamic Shield." Most of the work is from the A-pillars forward, where an assertive chrome-lined grille, restyled headlights, and a new hood are found. Larger LED taillights sit in back, along with chrome elements. As is the fashion nowadays, LED running lights have been added as standard, while the GT gets LED low beams and halogen high beams, as well. The cabin receives similarly small upgrades, updated materials, and a new navigation system. Plastic is the dominant surface, although it's no better or worse than the stuff usually encountered in this segment. Mitsubishi added piano-black accents on the bottom half of the leather-wrapped steering wheel and around the touchscreen navigation system, to class up the cabin. The cloth seats on the entry level models have also been updated, although the leather on the mid-range SEL and top-of-the-line GT we drove is unimpressive. The same can be said of the seats themselves, which are wide and unsupportive, particularly if you suffer from lower back issues, as your author does. You'll get eight-way powered adjustments on the SEL and GT, although lesser trims get by with manually-operated, six-way adjustability. Neither of those setups include lumbar adjustments. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes, at least, regardless of trim level. A standard third-row of seats has long been one of the Outlander's strongest points.