2002 Mitsubishi Montero on 2040-cars

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Mitsubishi wants to bring a plug-in hybrid Montero to the US

As Mitsubishi's turnaround takes hold, we can talk less about the company's survival in the US market and more about what kinds of products we might see in the future: there's a hybrid Evo on the way and its joint venture with Renault-Nissan will deliver a C-segment sedan. Furthermore, it might even deliver a dividend to its shareholders next year.
In addition to Mitsubishi announcing its intent to focus on SUVs, pickup trucks and crossovers, company president Osamu Masuko gave an interview to Automotive News saying that the plan is for model lines to have two or three power train options: gas, plug-in hybrid, diesel. Believing that fuel economy standards will force the expansion of the plug-in hybrid market, Masuko wants to bring a PHEV Pajero to the US (the Montero in our market) because it will restore the brand's place in the full-size SUV segment with a well known nameplate, and help the company reach its goal of making PHEVs 20 percent of its product offering.
We love the idea of a new Montero - and we hope there's a traditional gas model that would come with the PHEV - the question is what would it look like? The Concept GC-PHEV we saw at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show could offer clues, but with Masuko listing the SUV as the company's second most popular model behind pickups, how daring could designers get with it? On the other hand, if you compare the Concept PX-MiEV shown at Tokyo in 2011, the similarity to the production Outlander is more than one might expect for a crossover that's become a major seller for the brand. With an introduction due in 2015 or 2016, we shouldn't have to wait long to find out. Regrettably, there's still no word on the return of a Mitsubishi pickup truck.

Waymo partners with Nissan, Renault on robotaxis outside U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO — Self-driving car pioneer Waymo is teaming up with automakers Renault and Nissan to make its first journey outside the U.S. with a ride-hailing service that will dispatch a fleet of robotaxis in France and Japan. The partnership announced late Wednesday underscores Waymo's ambition to deploy its driverless technology throughout the world in an attempt to revolutionize the way people get around. The Mountain View, California, company can afford to try because it's backed by one of the world's richest companies, Google, which secretly began working on driverless technology a decade ago before spinning off that project into what is now known as Waymo. After launching its ride-hailing service in France and Japan, Waymo intends to explore other European and Asian markets with Renault and Nissan. "This is an ideal opportunity for Waymo to bring our autonomous technology to a global stage," Waymo CEO John Krafcik said. Waymo, Renault and Nissan didn't set a timetable for when their ride-hailing service will launch. They left most other details vague. It seems likely it will still be several years before Waymo will be in a position to pose a serious challenge to Uber, the world's largest ride-hailing service. Although Waymo's self-driving technology is widely considered to be the world's most advanced, it still isn't adept enough to be trusted without a human poised to take control in case something goes awry with the robot. Waymo had hoped to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service last year in the Phoenix area, but instead is still keeping human safety drivers in those vehicles more than six months after it rolled out. That service, known as Waymo One, is still only offering rides to a few hundred passengers that previously participated in a test program. Krafcik told the German newspaper Handelsblatt last year that Waymo will likely use a different brand for its ride-hailing services outside the U.S. That could be one reason Waymo is working with France-based Renault and Japan-based Nissan, household names in their home countries. Waymo has previously struck deals with two automakers, Fiat Chrysler and Jaguar, but those involved ordering tens of thousands of vehicles to be equipped with self-driving technology for services in the U.S. So far, Waymo is only using Fiat Chrysler minivans for its Phoenix service. The partnership with Renault and Nissan also involves a long-time alliance they formed with Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV selling well in Netherlands

Talk about a Dutch treat. Mitsubishi says sales of its Outlander Plug-in Hybrid are brisk in Europe, helped in a big way by plug-in vehicle tax incentives in the Netherlands that are getting more people there to buy the world's first production plug-in hybrid CUV. The Japanese automaker has taken more than 12,000 orders for the model from Europeans and had delivered about 8,200 of them as of the end of last year, all but 200 of which were to the Netherlands. Mitsubishi will start broader sales throughout the continent this year and is also expected to start sales in the US by next year. The company is looking for plug-ins to account for 20 percent of its global sales by the end of the decade. Mitsubishi, which also sells the model in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, hopes to reach an annual production rate of 50,000 Outlander PHEVs by the end of the year. Last August, the company resumed full-scale battery production after shutting things down for a few months for a safety probe stemming from a short-circuiting issue. The Outlander PHEV can run for 32 miles on electric power alone and gets a European-rated 124 miles per gallon. Check out Mitsubishi's press release on its Euro sales below. MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER PHEV CY13 SALES – EUROPEAN INAUGURATION With a plan for EVs and EV-derived PHEVs to represent 20% of its global sales by 2020, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has set itself an ambitious, yet realistic target. More so in Europe, Mitsubishi Motors' largest market for these technologies. 12,000+ orders / 8,000+ deliveries In this respect, the successful sales launch of Outlander PHEV in Europe – MMC's first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and forerunner of a wider PHEV range – tends to vindicate the Corporation's objectives. First launched in selected markets (The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland) from October 2013,Outlander PHEV has collected over 12,000 orders in Europe and these have already translated into 8,197 deliveries to end-customers by the end of December, of which 8,009 units for The Netherlands, the latter boosted by a tax scheme favourable to eco-friendly technologies such as low-emission vehicles. With more cars currently on their way to Europe, Mitsubishi Motor Sales Netherlands will soon be able to deliver the 11,000+ orders currently in its books and growing.