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Mitsubishi dealers would really like a truck to sell

While Mitsubishi is switching gears to focus on crossovers, that won't address a market that its dealers would like to be in. While answering questions from the press last night, Don Swearingen, executive vice president and COO of Mitsubishi's North American office, mentioned that its US dealers have a pickup truck high on their "shopping lists." In fact, he said that a truck is pretty much at the top. Mitsubishi does already have a small pickup truck it sells in foreign markets, badged as the Triton or L200. However, Swearingen said that just because dealers want a truck doesn't mean it's going to happen, citing various obstacles to bringing one to market. If, for example, Mitsubishi brought over the Triton, the company would have to go through the long, expensive process of certifying it for US safety and emissions regulations, not to mention making sure it fulfilled American buyers' demands. There's also the Chicken Tax, which levees a steep tariff on trucks built outside of the US and imported in. One possible way Mitsubishi could circumvent all of those issues, though, would be to leverage its new partnership with Nissan. Nissan already sells Frontier small pickups in the US, and Mitsubishi could simply redesign that model to suit its style. It's something that both companies are familiar with as well. Mitsubishi previously sold a restyled Dodge Dakota as the Raider, and Nissan allowed Suzuki to rebrand the Frontier to be sold as the Equator for a short time. It would certainly be a quick way to get into the truck market. However, Mitsubishi would also need to decide if such a product would actually be profitable, in addition to satisfying dealers. Related Video:

Weekly Recap: Toyota wants cars to be your 'close friends' around 2020

Toyota confirmed plans this week to launch autonomous technology in its production cars around 2020. The automaker's version is called Highway Teammate, and it's one element of a broader mobility strategy that includes vehicles communicating with each other and the grid. "Toyota believes that interactions between drivers and cars should mirror those between close friends who share a common purpose, sometimes watching over each other and sometimes helping each other out," the company said in a statement. That sounds utopian, and perhaps a bit cheesy, but it's an acknowledgment that autonomous driving requires more than technology developed in a vacuum. Toyota is looking at its research in a broader context, and dubs its overall strategy the Mobility Teammate Concept. Highway Teammate is the first step. Its test vehicle is a modified Lexus GS, which uses road-mapping data and external sensors to merge or exit highways, change lanes, and maintain safe distances during driving. It's operated on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. Toyota has been working on autonomous tech since the 1990s, with the goal of providing mobility for older people and the disabled, as well as lowering the frequency of traffic accidents. Toyota's push comes as an early adopter, Nissan, is hedging on its own deadline to implement the autonomous tech by 2020 due to a lack of firm laws governing self-driving cars around the world. Conversely, Volvo took the landmark step of being the first automaker to accept liability for when its cars will operate in autonomous mode, and urged the US government to set federal guidelines to regulate the technology. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 BMW M4 GTS: Your water-injected, turbo-boosted demon BMW is unleashing its most powerful M4 ever, a 493-horsepower special edition that's road legal yet bred for the track. The company is making 700 copies for sale around the world, and 300 of them will come to the United States. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder revs to 7,600 rpm and uses a water-injection technology to cool the intake air and lower the compression temperature. BMW says this allows it to wring more power out of the inline six. The car also uses carbon-fiber reinforced plastic for the roof, hood, engine compartment strut brace, drive shaft, and rear spoiler to reduce weight. The M4 features BMW's organic light-emitting diode taillights, which are said to be an industry first.

Mitsubishi shows off MiEV Evolution III for Pikes Peak

In May 2012, Mistubishi unveiled a completely unexpected version of the i-MiEV electric jellybean to challenge the climb up Pikes Peak, the MiEV Evolution. In 2013, the company unleashed the MiEV Evolution II. For 2014, well, you can probably guess. Say hello to the MiEV Evolution III. The latest, ahem, evolution of these cars features redesigned chassis and bodywork as well as a 50 kW boost to the electric motors, up to 450 kW, which translates to a 67 horsepower increase up to 603 hp. Two of these bad boys will tackle the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) later this month in the Electric Modified Division at the hands of drivers Greg Tracy and Hiroshi Masuoka. The race starts at 9,390 feet and ends at 14,110 feet above sea level and takes place June 29. Mitsubishi hasn't yet managed to win the EV category in. The first Evolution crashed during practice and last year Masuoka came in second in the EV division while Tracy came in third. The 2013 winner was Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima in the Monster Sport E-Runner. Will the third time be the charm? Mitsubishi Motors to Compete in the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for Third Consecutive Year Pair of advanced MiEV Evolution III all-electric racecars to compete Mon, Jun 02, 2014 - Cypress, California - Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) will compete in the Electric Modified Division of the prestigious 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) with a pair of technologically-advanced MiEV Evolution III 100% electric-powered purpose-built racecars in the 92nd running of the "Race to the Clouds" on June 29th near Colorado Springs, Colorado. First run in 1916, the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is a treacherous 12.42-mile/156 corner road course through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado commencing at an elevation of 9,390 feet and finishing at 14,110 feet – nearly 3 miles above sea level. The Pikes Peak race is the second oldest motorsports event in the United States after the Indianapolis 500. "Pikes Peak is an excellent laboratory for testing our advanced MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) technology," states Don Swearingen, executive vice president Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.