Although it is unlikely to affect you, or any future purchase decisions, the news that Mitsubishi is about to can the Evo from its Lancer model range, is one of the saddest stories so far this year.
Until now, we have seen manufacturers extending, changing or reinventing its model line up to cut emissions, but few manufactures have decided to simply stop an entire model that has been pumping out series performance cars for two decades and have such a strong following.
During the past two decades the Evo and the Subaru Impreza WRX STI gave us some of the most well known, and entertaining, battles in the global automotive scene. Every time a new model was released, from either manufacturer, you could expect a twin test from most publications in the immediate future.
The news was broken by Autocar’s Matt Prior who had a chat with Gayu Eusegi, Mitsubishi’s global product director at the current Geneva Motor Show.
According to Eusegi the decision end the Evo range was a “policy change” that will now see the company focusing on EV (electric vehicle) technology.It seems Mitsubishi wants to send out a specific message to its current and future clients of a brand that is totally focused on lowering its CO2 levels and a brand that offers nothing that is even remotely connected to performance or sportscars. According to Autocar’s report Mitsubishi is planning on releasing eight hybrid and/or EV cars by 2015.
Even though South Africans didn’t have access to the Evo range locally, it is a sad for car and performance enthusiasts globally. Hopefully this is once off decision by single manufacturer.
Have a look at a classic and entertaining comparison on the UK’s Fifth Gear program, presented by Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson. Watch out for the humongous drift around 4:20 seconds into the clip. Just click the video icon next to the image icon at the top of this article.