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Mitsubishi Lancer Evo XI - New and Future Cars
If there is to be another Evo, it will probably have some sort of hybrid option, which is an infinitely better scenario than having no Evo at all.

By Sam Mitani

June 14, 2010

With the launch of the Outlander Sport compact crossover as well as the electric i-MiEV, it seems Mitsubishi Motors is intent on adopting a green image. Word from Japan is that the company is slowly scrapping its sporty-car program in favor of more economical products.

The company’s in-house tuner, Ralliart, has been all but shut down, while plans for the next-generation Lancer Evolution have allegedly been put on hold. However, an inside source tells us that death reports of the next-generation Evo are premature. He informed us that there are still a few people within Mitsubishi who don’t want to see the company’s image car go away, and that development is underway on a plug-in hybrid version of the high-performance sports sedan.

“This way, it will conform to the company’s overall strategic plan of building fuel-efficient cars,” he says. “Yet it will have all the performance that the current Lancer Evo possesses.”

Although nothing is set in stone, it seems that at this point if there is to be another Evo, it will probably have some sort of hybrid option, which is an infinitely better scenario than having no Evo at all. And from what we’ve been told, the new car won’t be a slouch at the test track, either.

complacent wrote:i really like the looks... though i'm yet to see hybrid and sports car work in the same sentence.

Mr Kleen wrote:Porsche did it... For Porsche money.

scheherazade wrote: Upcoming GTR redux is also supposed to be a hybrid, but is supposed to keep the turbo(s).

-scheherazade

It does look good though

prorallycodriver wrote:Front looks like the Predator after its taken off its mask.

prorallycodriver wrote:Front looks like the Predator after its taken off its mask.

GaToR wrote:I like the ideas of AWD systems with one electric regenerative braking differential and one direct drive diff a-la Porsche GT3 hybrid.

I'm not totally sold on a 1-gear car yet, where there is no mechanical connection to the wheels whatsoever. I'm all about saving that kinetic energy, but CVTs in general leave me wanting, even if they are faster in some specification.

The Lancer Evolution X, Eusegi told me, will be the last Evo. “There is still a demand [for the car],” he said, “but we must stop.” Eyebrow up.

“Our influence now is EV technology,” Eusegi said, adding that the decision was a “policy change”.

It seems Mitsubishi, which is going to introduce eight full electric or hybrid cars by 2015, has decided its image is about lowering CO2, not making lurid replicas of rally cars that don’t go top-level rallying any more.

Eusegi said that customers would find it “easier to understand” what Mitsubishi was about if it was no longer in this motorsport-inspired market.

He seemed to put the rumoured diesel hybrid Evo replacement to bed, too. So the X will be the last Evolution model? “Yes. Maybe the world can change, and maybe someday we can do a motor race by electric vehicles,” said Eusegi. “Maybe then we can enter the market again.”

Until then, prepare yourselves for the end of an era.