Mitsubishi Releases No-Frills Lancer 1.5 Juro Special Edition for the UK

The Mitsubishi Lancer nobody really wants but almost everyone gets across the pond has become a bit more desirable in the UK with the launch of a new special edition, which as usual translates to additional equipment at a more competitive price. The new edition is called Juro and is based on the Lancer 1.5 GS2 hatchback, which is powered by a 1.5-liter petrol engine gasping out 107-horses and 143Nm or 105 lb-ft of peak torque.

The Lancer Juro comes equipped with black leather seats and an integrated Kenwood multimedia system that comprises Garmin Satellite Navigation, Parrott Bluetooth, iPod connection lead and reversing camera as standard.

Other standard features include 16-inch alloy wheels, climate control, alarm, leather steering wheel with audio controls, electric windows, mirrors and locks, and a color-keyed rear spoiler to keep all those ponies close to the ground.

In the UK, the Lancer 1.5 Juro hatch is priced at £14,749, which includes free metallic paint and VAT.

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Mitsubishi to Phase Out Most of its U.S.-made Models by 2014

Mitsubishi President Osamu Masuko today announced that the automaker will kill most of its current lineup of U.S.-made vehicles by 2014, as part of the company's “Jump 2013” mid-term business plan. The decision affects the Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder sports cars, Endeavor crossover and Galant sedan, which are going to be replaced with global vehicles built at the manufacturer’s Illinois plant. The Outlander crossover, Outlander Sport small crossover and Lancer sedan will provide the underpinnings for the new models.

According to Mr. Masuko, these changes won’t affect U.S. sales. In fact, he predicted that sales and production numbers will increase, albeit no target has been specified.

“Our sales in North America will increase”, Masuko said. “We'll still be selling cars brought in from Japan, and we'll be adding the global small car as well”.

When it comes to combined sales, Mitsubishi expects the Japanese, North American and European markets to register a jump of 90,000 units over the next three years.

Furthermore, the company is exploring other possibilities to gain much needed market share as well.

One plan of action will see Mitsubishi rolling out no less than eight electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles by early 2016, including a small commercial truck version of the i-MIEV and plug-in hybrid SUV based on the Px-MiEV concept car shown at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

Mitsubishi also wants to bring its new global small car to the U.S. and target emerging markets with new models, such as a 1-ton pickup truck that could be jointly developed with Nissan.

By Csaba Daradics

Source: Autonews

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Proton Rebadges Mitsubishi Lancer and Calls it Inspira. Too bad it isn't an EVO..

Proton, Malaysia's national carmaker and owners of Lotus, has taken the wraps of its latest model. No, you aren't looking at a cheesy Photoshop and this isn't an April Fools joke come six months late: this is the firm's new mid-sized Inspira sedan.

For those of you fooled by the *cough* deceptive *cough* restyling Proton has done, the Inspira (from the Bahasa Malaysia word 'Inspirasi' which means 'Inspiration') is based on the current generation Mitsubishi Lancer.

Priced at a tentative RM79,888 (US$25,654), deliveries of the Inspira will start in November. For some comparison, in Malaysia a base model Mazda3 sells for roughly RM30,000 (US$10,000) more.

Managing Director Dato' Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir is very happy with the new model:

"We maintain our stance in making valuable products more affordable for Malaysians. The car's distinctive sporty personality has been further enhanced by us with the injection of the renowned Lotus DNA of excellent ride & handling, while localisation of parts has enabled us to introduce the Inspira at an affordable price. With these combined, what we have here is what we believe to be another right car, at the right price and at the right time by PROTON."

The Inspira gets all the goodies the Lancer gets including a choice of a 1.8-liter or 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engines, adaptive CVT with paddle shifters, cruise control, dusk-sending headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, climate control air conditioning and (presumably) 5 star ANCAP safety.

The Inspira is the first tangible result of the new strategic alliance between Proton and Mitsubishi, though the two companies have had close ties for years. In the mid to late '90s, Proton brought three cars to Australia that were little more than rebadges of current generation Mitsubishi models. Suffice to say, only the most cash strapped of buyers saw the Wira, Satria and M21 as anything but knockoff Mitsubishis.

Carscoop will have more details and pictures as they come through.

By Tristan Hankins

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Mitsubishi Adds New Entry-Level Model to Lancer's UK Line Up

Priced from £12,499, the 1.5 4-door SE is the new entry-level model in Mitsubishi UK's Lancer range. Powered by a 1.5-liter petrol four banger with that allows the sedan to go from naught to 62mph (100km/h) in 11.6 seconds, the base SE has a combined fuel consumption of 44 mpg imp. Standard equipment includes metallic paint, 16-inch alloys, side, curtain and driver's knee airbags, Bluetooth, air conditioning, front fog lights, steering wheel audio and Bluetooth controls, iPod input and a CAT 1 alarm.

New Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X FQ-330 SST: 329HP, 0-100km/h in 4.4sec

The British always liked to fettle around with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and the tenth generation model is no exception. Now they have come up with yet another higher-power version of the Lancer EVO X that goes by the name FQ-330 SST. This F....g Quick (honestly, that's what it stands for) combines the upgraded FQ-330 engine to the 6-speed Twin-Clutch Sports Shift Transmission. Under the hood, the 2.0-liter turbo engine benefits from a bevy of improvements.

These include an ECU re-map along with the addition of a high performance exhaust and downpipe, an intercooler piping kit, racing suction pipe, and upgraded CAT, all of which help deliver an additional 36 bhp and 22 lb ft over the FQ-300 SST, for a total output of 329bhp at 6,500 rpm and 437Nm (322-lbs/ft) at 3,500 rpm.

The result is a 0 to 100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 4.4 seconds, or 0.3 seconds faster than the FQ-300 SST, and a top speed of 250 km/h or 155mph.

In the UK, the FQ-330 SST is available immediately for order. Buyers can choose among four different colors - Cool Silver (M), Orient Red (M), Lightning Blue (P) and Phantom Black (P), all of which are included in the basic price of £35,999, which is £3,000 more than the standard FQ-300 STT variant.

	FQ-300 SST	FQ-330 SST
Max. output (bhp) / rpm)	295 / 6500	329 / 6500
Max. torque (Nm (lb ft) / rpm)	407 (300) / 3500	437 (322) / 3500
0-62 mph (secs)	4.7	4.4
Max. Speed (mph (kph)	155 (250)	155 (250)
Price	£32,999	£35,999

Standard equipment:

• Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC)
  
• 18" Enkei alloy wheels
  
• Brembo braking system, including 2-piece front brakes
  
• Eibach coil springs
  
• Bilstein shock absorbers
  
• HID xenon headlamps with Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS)
  
• Recaro front seats
  
• Bluetooth hands-free system
  
• Leather sports steering wheel with audio controls
  
• Front, side, curtain and knee airbags
  
• Privacy glass
  
• Front fog lamps
  
• ISO Fix
  
• Automatic headlamp and wiper sensors
  
• Remote central locking
  
• CAT1 approved alarm/immobiliser
  
• CAT5 approved tracker system + 1 year free subscription
  
• HDD satellite navigation system
  
• Rockford premium audio & Music Server – 6 premium speakers + subwoofer
  
• iPod/MP3 auxiliary input port

Southeast Motor to Unveil V3 Lingyue in Shanghai

One of the lesser -if at all- known Chinese automakers, Southeast Motor, has announced that it will reveal the V3 Lingyue hatchback at 2009 Shanghai auto show next week. Like the sedan variant of the V3 Lingyue that was introduced in China in late 2008, the hatchback model is based on a platform of a previous generation Mitsubishi Lancer with power provided by a 1.5-liter MIVEC four-cylinder engine that was fine-tuned for the Chinese market by the firm's partner, Mitsubishi Motors.

EuroNCAP's Revised Safety Ratings for Six New Cars Including Mazda6, Avensis and Impreza

The European organization for the assessment of vehicle safety has published the first results under its updated rating system. Up until now, Euro NCAP made three separate ratings available for each vehicle, but with the new system there's an overall rating for every car covering Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Pedestrian Protection and a new area of assessment, Safety Assist which takes into account systems such as electronic stability control (ESC) and seat belt reminders.

Of the six cars tested under the new ratings system, four managed to achieve Euro NCAP's maximum award of five stars: the Mazda 6, Mitsubishi Lancer, Toyota Avensis and Toyota iQ. Citroen's C3 Picasso minivan and the Subaru Impreza were both awarded four stars.

According to Euro NCAP, with the exception of the Subaru Impreza, all the other cars failed to impress on pedestrian protection.

After the announcement of the results, Mitsubishi and Subaru both said that they would change their ESC (electronic stability control) fitment policies for the Lancer and Impreza, as variants of these models without optional ESC were offered in some Euroepan countries.

Euro NCAP's new rating scheme requires all safety equipment, including ESC, to be standard on 85% of volume sales and at least optionally available on every variant.

Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback 5-door with up to 237HP Coming to U.S. this Summer

It's official; Mitsubishi has confirmed that the all-new five-door Lancer Sportback will arrive in U.S. dealerships this summer as a 2010 model year. Though one would expect the opposite, the 5-door Sportback's overall length is actually slightly longer than the Lancer four-door sedan. The Sportback will be offered in the States in two trims, the GTS model fitted with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine producing 168-hp, mated to either a five-speed manual or six-speed CVT automatic transmission, and the one that most of us are interested in, the Ralliart version powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine pumping out 237-hp and 253 lb.-ft. of torque.

The Lancer Sportback Ralliart will come with the EVO's all-wheel control (AWC) with Active Center Differential (ACD) and six-speed Twin Clutch-Sportronic Shift Transmission (TC-SST). Pricing and detailed information on the U.S.-spec Lancer Sportback will be announced nearer to its summer on-sale date.

Mitsubishi's Lancer Sportback "Birds and Bees" TV Ad too Spicy for Toddlers

In Europe, Mitsubishi has no problem being a tad provocative when it comes to getting the attention of buyers. As the company itself admits, even its vehicle names have turned a few heads, such as the 'FQ' badges to be found on the 'F***ing Quick' Lancer Evolution range. Now, Mitsubishi has readied a new spicy and in our opinion, humorous TV advert for the Lancer, called "Bees and Birds." The ad is due to air in the UK on Monday 9th February.

According to Mitsubishi, Clearcast, the company that is responsible for the pre-transmission examination and clearance of UK TV advertisements, has not approved the ad to be shown on TV before 9 o'clock. It goes without saying that Mitsubishi's intention was to create a bit of a buzz with the advert.

Lance Bradley, Mitsubishi's Director of Sales and Marketing said that, "Clearcast thought that the light-hearted innuendo throughout the ad could be seen as inappropriate – especially for younger viewers. We are happy to have the TV ad shown after the 9 o'clock watershed."

Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback and Ralliart: 41 High-Res Photos

Less than a week before the new Lancer Sportback and its 240HP Ralliart sibling make their world debut at the Mondial De L’Automobile in Paris, Mitsubishi released a full set of images of both versions of the 5door Lancer hatchback or as we prefer to call it for apparent aesthetic reasons, hunchback. Hit the jump to check out our high-resolution image gallery or click here to read the initial details on the new Lancer Sportback range. -Continued

2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart 240HP 2.0-liter Turbo

2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback