The Incredibly Growing Mitsubishi Mirage Gains a New Face

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Christmas just came early for many of you. The Mitsubishi Mirage, a truly inexpensive vehicle sometimes seen wearing a worrisome shade of magenta, will soon be even better than before.

That’s because the subcompact hatch and sedan is about gain an even more dynamic and expressive exterior. Brace yourselves.

Slated to be revealed at an event in Thailand on November 18th, the global Mirage and its sedan sibling (known to North Americans as the G4; Attrage in overseas markets) will amp up the economy car goodness with a heavily revised front fascia. You might recognize the look from the 2016 Outlander.

A teaser image seems to imply the Mirage will gain LED mascara, with its headlamps underscored by a chrome stripe that flows into the border of the new grille. A two-bar insert perks up the middle of the little car’s face. Recall that the first version of this current Mirage generation boasted an air inlet so small, you’d think you were looking at a first-gen Hyundai Accent. Thus, it’s an improvement, whether you want to hand Mitsubishi that compliment or not.

Interestingly, Mitsubishi claims the exterior alterations embody the car’s “Mitsubishi-ness.”

Mitsubishi-ness.

While the basic four-door hatch will surely make its way here, the G4 variant might not. The UK won’t get it, nor will Canada. We’re waiting on word about U.S.-market availability.

As for power, don’t expect any more than what you’ve been getting. According to Autocar, the Mirage’s two global engines (a 1.0- and 1.2-liter inline-three) are expected to carry over, with North Americans gaining the punchier of the two. Currently, the Mirage makes do with 78 horsepower and 74 lb-ft of torque.

While we can poke fun at the Mirage’s bottom-rung standing in the automotive food chain, Mitsubishi is having the last laugh. U.S. buyers clearly see something they like. Unlike most other small cars, the Mirage can boast of steadily rising sales. Through the end of October, Mirage sales are up 10.8 percent in the U.S., with last month showing a 23.4 percent year-over-year volume gain.

That puts the lowly Mirage on track for its best sales year since the model’s late-2014 introduction.

[Image: Mitsubishi Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • MoparRocker74 MoparRocker74 on Nov 07, 2019

    Im glad I’m not stuck having to drive bottom feeder cars like this, but that said this thing serves a purpose: it saves money. Something no hybrid ir electric car will EVER do so long as this is an option at this price point. It’s proof that ICE’s are the best bang for the buck.

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    • MoparRocker74 MoparRocker74 on Nov 08, 2019

      @quaquaqua Dal—I live in the suburbs of Portland, OR. Greenie mobiles stand a fighting chance here because of the demographics. Same group who always look dour and miserable or at best smug in their priuses. All Im gonna say is people are gonna judge you no matter what you do, and seeking approval is a losers game so the only way to win is to do whatever the hell you want. Judgemental eco-weenies are the LAST group Im here to appease and if a Challenger with an uncorked Hemi puts me on their bad side that’s a win for me.

  • Akear Akear on Nov 07, 2019

    This is a nice car for either a college student or somebody just starting the work force. I would prefer this over the vulgar Escalade. I would be thrilled if GM or Ford produced a decent entry level car like this. The front end is a huge improvement. This is actually a good looking car.

  • Rochester "better than Vinfast" is a pretty low bar.
  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
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