2007 Mitsubishi Outlander Ls Sport Utility 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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'Zero' chance of Renault taking over Nissan, Mitsubishi, says Ghosn

TOKYO — Renault SA absorbing Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp is not an option as the carmakers look to strengthen their partnership while retaining their autonomy, alliance chairman Carlos Ghosn said on Friday. "Anybody who will ask Nissan and Mitsubishi to become wholly owned subsidiaries of Renault has zero chance of getting a result," Ghosn told shareholders of Mitsubishi Motors at a meeting. He also serves as chief executive of France's Renault. The alliance was the world's top-selling passenger vehicle maker in 2017, but as the global auto industry consolidates, it is looking to strengthen its position before the 64-year-old Ghosn, its main architect, retires in the coming years after overseeing the partnership for nearly 20 years. We reported in March that the carmakers were discussing a deeper tie-up, which could see the French government, a major shareholder in Renault, give up influence at Renault and the French carmaker relinquish control over Nissan. The three automakers have a unique partnership designed to leverage their combined scale to save on costs including R&D, parts procurement and production to better compete with rivals Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. They are also interlinked by their shareholding structure. Renault holds 43.4 percent of shares in Nissan, while Nissan owns 15 percent of Renault, with no voting rights in a partnership that began in 1999. Mitsubishi Motors joined the alliance in 2016 after Nissan took a 34 percent controlling stake in the smaller automaker. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa has said the alliance is not discussing a "full merger." Ghosn said that while the focus of the alliance was to sell more cars and increase profitability by reducing unnecessary duplication of processes, he wanted each of the three automakers to maintain their independence, which differentiated the group from Toyota and Volkswagen. "We need to work together ... to find a system by which what we have today, which is working very well, can continue in the future no matter who is leading the alliance," he said. "We need to prove that this is sustainable five years down the road, 10 years down the road, 15 years down the road." In a Figaro interview published last week, Ghosn was upbeat about the prospect of securing a new deal for the alliance despite its extreme political sensitivity in France and Japan, saying a plan would need to be announced "well before" the end of his four-year term at the helm of Renault in 2022.

Junkyard Gem: 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT

Mitsubishi is down to just three models in the United States now: the Eclipse Cross, Mirage and Outlander (and the Outlander is sibling to the Nissan Rogue). Back in its glory days of the 1990s, however, Mitsubishi offered American vehicle shoppers a comprehensive line that included minivans, wagons, sedans of all sizes, pickups, econoboxes, sport coupes, SUVs and an evil-looking sports car called the 3000GT. Today's Junkyard Gem is a first-generation 3000GT, found in a Northern California wrecking yard. Known as the Mitsubishi GTO in its homeland, the 3000GT was available in the United States from the 1991 through 1999 model years. For 1991 through 1996, a Dodge-badged version called the Stealth was sold in North America. There was a turbocharged all-wheel-drive VR4 version of the 3000GT, but this one is a naturally-aspirated front-wheel-drive base model. The engine is a 3.0-liter DOHC V6 rated at 222 horsepower and 205 pound-feet. The transmission is a five-speed manual. A four-speed automatic was available for an additional $840 ($1,807 in 2024 dollars). The MSRP for the base front-wheel-drive 3000GT for 1993 was $23,659, or about $50,893 after inflation. The much faster VR4 listed at $37,250 ($80,128 in today's money). This car has had an interesting life, evidence of which can be seen in the replacement VIN tag riveted on by the State of California. Home-market ads for Japanese cars from this period are more fun than their American counterparts. It appears that the FWD version didn't get much attention in TV commercials. Mitsubishi. The word is getting around.

Mitsubishi Lancer, Outlander Sport named 2013 IIHS Top Safety Picks

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has added a pair of Mitsubishi models to its ever-growing list of 2013 Top Safety Picks, giving the prestigious safety award to the 2013 Outlander Sport and Lancer (sedan and Sportback). Both models make a return visit to the list, but with 117 cars now on the list and IIHS crash standards getting tougher just about every, this is big news for the small Japanese automaker.
Among small SUVs, the Outlander Sport is just one of nine vehicles in this segment to be named a Top Safety Pick, while the Lancer's name is surrounded by 28 other compact coupes, sedans and hatchbacks in the highly competitive small car segment. The Top Safety Pick status does not apply to the Lancer's Ralliart or Evolution variants, and neither the Outlander Sport nor the Lancer were subjected to the new small frontal offset crash test that would have resulted in the new Top Safety Pick+.
Scroll down for Mitsubishi's press release.