Mitsubishi Concepts Signal Future Sedan, CUV, Electric Car

Mitsubishi is gearing up for October’s Tokyo Motor Show with some advanced looks at three new concepts. One, the I MiEV Sport, is an all-electric concept that is beyond funky looking. The body is made of aluminum to reduce weight, while four electric motors power the wheels. There’s a solar panel on the roof as well, because you can never be too environmentally friendly. We don’t expect this to see the light of day for some time, if ever.

The Concept-ZT, on the other hand, could offer a glimpse of the next Galant full-size sedan here in the states. Its looks are borrowed from the new Lancer, which has seen brisk sales in the U.S. and overseas. The concept version, however, again uses aluminum for the body – too costly to ever make production — and a diesel four-cylinder engine. We’d expect the looks to be saved and everything else to be shelved if this ever goes on sale to the public. 

Finally, Mitsubishi has developed a compact SUV smaller than its current Outlander, dubbed the Concept-cX. Like the ZT, we expect to see something at least this size go on sale in the global market, but probably not in the U.S. Still, Mitsubishi delivers some wild concepts that get people talking. There are more photos below. 

Comments

Holy cow, the ZT looks SUPER! The CX look's cool, but the MiEV Sport is too much. But i Love Mitsubishi’s new design language!

Everyone likes the concept of helping out the environment, but no one really does anything about it. Electric cars are always being brought up in the media by big corporations but have you seen many people driving electric cars from these corporations. If people want to do something now and make a difference they should do some research on electric vehicles available to them now. Did you know there an electric car company by the name of ZAP, that has dealers not only across the nation but in other countries as well? You hear that car companies are SOON coming out with this amazing electric car, but that idea is just on paper. ZAP actually has electric cars available to buy, there are a little over $10,000. It definitely
is worth checking out. www.zapworld.com

We like zap as much as the next blog and have posted about them before. They're not a major manufacturer though.

the MiVEC looks alot like the new beetle.

The concept ZT looks really good.

The concept ZT looks really good.

the concept zt looks sharp!!

the concept zt looks sharp!!

Hate to be the lone person here to pour icy cold water over everyone's head, but has Mitsu fired off all the design staff and has the only person who designed the Lancer remaining? I mean, the ZT & cX looks almost identical to the Lancer in the front (and back for the ZT). Why not just label them like, Lancer-X or Lancer-whatever (like Ford with their Taurus, and Taurus-X...j/k...worst idea of all time!).

It's not that the Lancer look isn't good, but it's really very 90's, as the old Galant has the similar look of the current Lancer. It was a bit ahead of its time back then (which I think it's excellent), but it's definitely not a brisk new style now.

I also don't expect to see these vehicles appear in the US as in the same shape and form as the Japanese concept versions, despite what this report has claimed. Once you import a vehicle into the US, in order to complete with Altima/Accord/Camry, the fundamental rules are BIG & CHEAP. The CHEAP factor may be do-able, but very unlikely for the BIG part in the current sheet metal. The next Mazda6 is an excellent example (at this moment with info available).

Note: not that I agree Bigger is better; but that's just the fact of life here. Also, the concept may look big in picture, but so is the next Mazda6. When these concepts are shown within Japan, they are usually NOT a big car due to big size not being favored in JDM & anywhere but US for non-luxury sedans in general.

Wow, it just occured to me how similar the front ends of two of those cars look like nissans Skyline R34