Iconic sports saloon is dead as we know it, but its spirit will live on in a new hybrid model using tech from Mitsubishi's Pikes Peak racerThe Mitsubishi Evo is dead as a sports saloon, company chiefs have confirmed to Autocar, but its spirit will live on as a high-peformance hybrid SUV.
Once the Japanese manufacturer’s most iconic model, the Evo and its future have been the subject of much internal debate for a number of years, with Mitsubishi putting a greater emphasis on hybrid vehicles.
Speaking at the Paris motor show, Mitsubishi product boss Kanenori Okamoto confirmed that an Evo XI was not part of the brand’s future plans.
“It will not exist as we know it,” he said. “It will be replaced in spirit by an SUV with high performance.”
Okamoto explained that the company has yet to decide which the new rapid SUV would be based upon, although it will include technology inspired by Mitsubishi’s electric Pikes Peak hillclimb racer, know as MiEV Evolution.
Indeed, lessons learned in the packaging of the competition car could prove useful; an Evo-inspired hybrid SUV would require a large battery and high-output electric motor to produce performance car characteristics.
It will make use of the latest evolution of the Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC) four-wheel-drive system originally developed for the Evo X and also integrated into the MiEV Evolution.
Okamoto added that components and control systems pioneered in the new high-performance SUV would trickle down into other future Mitsubishi road cars. He also said that the project would benefit and inspire the younger breed of engineers within the company.
UK performance car enthusiasts hold the Evo in high regard, notably because of its success in rallying, but there are no plans to take the SUV into motorsport.
However, Mitsubishi UK boss Lance Bradley was confident that green technology could excite on the road: “Green is still fun to drive. It’s a challenge to make it fun, but not a particularly difficult one. Electric vehicle performance is very good.”
In the short-term, Mitsubishi will roll out a new pick-up truck next year, and then focus its attentions on the next version of the ASX crossover, which is due to arrive in 2016, followed by the replacement for the Shogun.
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