Mitsubishi is going to kill their Lancer line in August 2017?

Jor-el · January 7, 2017

http://www.autoblog.com/2017/01/06/mitsubishi-lancer-production-ends-august-2017/

Executive vice president and COO of Mitsubishi's North American division Don Swearingen said the Mirage G4 will remain on the market to handle some sedan demand, but that Lancer production will end this August.

:blink:

Jor-el · January 7, 2017

They won't completely get rid of the Lancer right?

I hope this is only for North American market

iRage · January 7, 2017

Well not sure about the SEA and other export markets..but the Galant Fortis is out of the Japanese market and there is no talk of a replacement any time soon...so they might start phasing it out of other markets as well...or perhaps sell a rebadged Nissan like they are doing with their larger cars.

Jor-el · January 7, 2017

On 1/7/2017 at 11:08 AM, iRage said:

Well not sure about the SEA and other export markets..but the Galant Fortis is out of the Japanese market and there is no talk of a replacement any time soon...so they might start phasing it out of other markets as well...or perhaps sell a rebadged Nissan like they are doing with their larger cars.

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But but Lancer is Mitsubishi's Corolla isn't it?

iRage · January 7, 2017

On 1/7/2017 at 2:38 PM, Jor-el said:

But but Lancer is Mitsubishi's Corolla isn't it?

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Yes...but if it is not moving it is not moving....and it didn't in Japan because whilst the others came with new models the Galant Fortis stuck to the old model (for 9 or 10 years ?) and sales numbers were apparently dwindling.

So yes..the Lancer was Mitsu's response to the Corolla...but it simply was not its bread and butter like the Corolla marquee (which by the way is also getting hammered by the Prius)

Mitsubishi really hasn't been doing much product development in these areas....for a few years now the Dignity and the Proudia have been the rebadged Nissan Cima and Fuga.

Seems like the same was happening in the US.

WRXSTi · January 8, 2017

That means they will stop EVO's also?

zeem35 · January 8, 2017

They want to focus on crossovers!

WRXSTi · January 8, 2017

that is very disappointing

iRage · January 8, 2017

On 1/8/2017 at 2:06 AM, WRXSTi said:

That means they will stop EVO's also?

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You do know that they stopped producing the EVO last year right ? Last one rolled off in August or something

Yes...Mitsubishi wants to direct its resources in to developing EV technology and roll them out in EVs and small city cars.

WRXSTi · January 8, 2017

yeah i heard that......

Jor-el · January 8, 2017

On 1/8/2017 at 2:32 AM, zeem35 said:

They want to focus on crossovers!

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Yeah yankees doesn't dig sedans very much now anyway, they like their hatchbacks and crossovers

But AFAIK Lancers are still being sold at many markets (Australia, Russia, Malaysia etc) so they won't stop production in a global scale anytime soon imo.

iRage · January 8, 2017

On 1/8/2017 at 4:37 AM, Jor-el said:

Yeah yankees doesn't dig sedans very much now anyway, they like their hatchbacks and crossovers

But AFAIK Lancers are still being sold at many markets (Australia, Russia, Malaysia etc) so they won't stop production in a global scale anytime soon imo.

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The thing is...would be interesting to see how it is doing in these markets....I can count the number of Lancers i have seen in Hanoi with one hand..and didn't see much of it in Bangkok either...don't recall seeing much even in Singapore (saw a whole bunch of beautifully tuned CSs though).

The problem is Mitsubishi needs a new model...something which they don't seem eager to do...without a new model they are going to lose out on these other markets as well....

The Stig · January 8, 2017

On 1/8/2017 at 2:06 AM, WRXSTi said:

That means they will stop EVO's also?

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Stop using internet explorer !

Davy · January 8, 2017

There is speculation that it is a global call. [1].

As I have mentioned before, the current Lancer is actually an 8 year old car. There are no significant differences between the 2008 Lancer vs the 2017 Lancer. While other makes (Toyota for example) competing in this segment have released at least one new model within this period, the Lancer is the same old car. The Evo is a similar story. While Subaru has released 3 new Impreza STi models since 2007, The Evo X has been the same.

Being an owner of 3 consecutive Mitsubishi Lancers, this is plain disappointing. I mean if their flagship compact sedan has not been given proper revision for nearly a decade with subsequent axing of the model, I'm not really sure if fans of the Evo and Lancer will stick around with Mitsubishi. We shall wait and see how the Renault + Nissan + Mitsubishi alliance with their EV crossover plan is implemented and received by customers.

1. http://www.caradvice.com.au/511605/mitsubishi-lancer-production-to-end-in-august-2017-report/

Edited January 8, 2017 by Davy

kush · January 9, 2017

They don’t have budget to develop number of models. As Outlander is in demand they will be concentrating on it.

Killing Lancer and Pajero/ Montero

LashNeo · January 9, 2017

This would be terrible news for real petrol-heads.
The latest model was such a novel looking and inspiring model when it came out. Honestly, even today it's far better looking than majority of the bland Jap's we see coming out from the major manufacturers like Toyota & Nissan. However, whether we like it or not it seems like the compact to mid size sedan market is been captured by roundish bland looking hatchbacks & crossovers..

Jor-el · January 9, 2017

On 1/9/2017 at 5:07 AM, LashNeo said:

This would be terrible news for real petrol-heads.
The latest model was such a novel looking and inspiring model when it came out. Honestly, even today it's far better looking than majority of the bland Jap's we see coming out from the major manufacturers like Toyota & Nissan. However, whether we like it or not it seems like the compact to mid size sedan market is been captured by roundish bland looking hatchbacks & crossovers..

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No truer words were ever spoken.

Seriously. It was the Lancer which made me a Mitsubishi fan.

Anyhoo, even if they stop producing Lancers for good, there will always be a Lancer in my garage. Doesn't matter how old it gets.

Sierra Charlie · January 9, 2017

On 1/9/2017 at 5:07 AM, LashNeo said:

This would be terrible news for real petrol-heads.
The latest model was such a novel looking and inspiring model when it came out. Honestly, even today it's far better looking than majority of the bland Jap's we see coming out from the major manufacturers like Toyota & Nissan. However, whether we like it or not it seems like the compact to mid size sedan market is been captured by roundish bland looking hatchbacks & crossovers..

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Not to mention far more superior in terms of technology in the cars. Even the Mitsu cars from as late as year 2000 had things like independent suspension and in Galant's case, disk brakes all around. Even the new Toyotas despite being astronomically expensive in comparison don't have either.