Mitsubishi Pins Its Hopes On A Mirage

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Mitsubishi is still alive and well in Japan, for the rest of the world, it is hoping for a Mirage. Just to make sure, Mitsubishi built one. Produced in Thailand, the Mitsubishi Mirage is a global compact car. Today, it goes on sale in Japan.

The Mirage will be successively rolled out in Europe, Australia and other regions. Over 33,000 orders have already been received for the Mirage in Thailand as of the end of July, the company says.

In Japan, the new Mirage will be offered with a 1.0-liter 3-cylinder MIVEC engine, mated to a to a CVT transmission.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Daviel Daviel on Aug 02, 2012

    didn't that company make the Japanese Zeros?

    • MrWhopee MrWhopee on Aug 02, 2012

      Indeed they did. Which makes the situation they're in today all the more appalling. What a fall from grace. Back in the 1970s they were revered as much as Toyota, at least in third world countries. You know, I just realized it now. This article's title is very spot on! In a literal sense.

  • Silverkris Silverkris on Aug 03, 2012

    I think Mitsubishi still is fairly strong in Asia. Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan has used and endorsed MMC cars for years - though I'm not sure if he's still doing that. The Pajero/Montero is the vehicle of choice for Third World elites, like the Land Cruiser.

  • Carson D A friend of mine bought a Cayenne GTS last week. I was amazed how small the back seat is. Did I expect it to offer limousine comfort like a Honda CR-V? I guess not. That it is far more confining and uncomfortable than any 4-door Civic made in the past 18 years was surprising. It reminded me of another friend's Mercedes-Benz CLS550 from a dozen years ago. It seems like a big car, but really it was a 2+2 with the utilitarian appearance of a 4-door sedan. The Cayenne is just an even more utilitarian looking 2+2. I suppose the back seat is bigger than the one in the Porsche my mother drove 30 years ago. The Cayenne's luggage bay is huge, but Porsche's GTs rarely had problems there either.
  • Stanley Steamer Oh well, I liked the Legacy. It didn't help that they ruined it's unique style after 2020. It was a classy looking sedan up to that point.
  • Jalop1991 https://notthebee.com/article/these-people-wore-stop-signs-to-prank-self-driving-cars-and-this-is-a-trend-i-could-totally-get-behindFull self stopping.
  • Lou_BC Summit Racing was wise to pull the parts. It damages their reputation. I've used Summit Racing for Jeep parts that I could not find elsewhere.
  • MaintenanceCosts The crossover is now just "the car," part 261.
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