Favoritism ALERT! Here is the thing - I love Mitsubishi cars. The love affair started with the 5th generation Lancer and got aggravated when I saw the first glimpse of the Lancer Cedia Sports.
I have scoured the length and breadth of this country to find a mint condition first generation Lancer Cedia Sports in ‘Cyclone Yellow’ and the hunt still goes on!
Clearly, it drives me up the wall when I see my favorite manufacturer showing no commitment to the Indian market. But that could change if Mitsubishi India is reading this article.
Mitsubishi revealed the Mirage hatchback at the Paris Motor show for the European market. The Mirage is a car that is designed grounds up by Mitsubishi to get the benefits of the Thailand Eco car project. The Mirage is 3,710mm long, 1,665mm wide, 1,490mm high and weighs 845kg. It is available in two petrol engines –
- 1.0-litre unit with 70bhp and 88 Nm of Torque
- 1.2-litre unit with 79bhp and 105 Nm of Torque
The manual variant is powered by a 5-speed gearbox. Mitsubishi also has plans to offer a CVT automatic variant.
The new Mirage is designed for maximum fuel efficiency and comes fitted with low-friction tires, regenerative braking, stop/start system, an intelligent battery sensor and a high-efficiency alternator
Our second favorite car designer Theophilus Chin has presented a rendering of a sedan variant of the Mitsubishi Mirage which is equally impressive.
Mitsubishi India needs to consider the Mirage twins for India. The twins formula has worked for Maruti Suzuki (Swift & Dzire) in the past. GM India will bring the Sail Twins very soon to the Indian market, and the Honda Brio sedan has also been confirmed for a 2013 launch.
Mitsubishi needs to consider a volume based car for India, and find a diesel engine to boot, to show us the required commitment. The cheapest Mitsubishi that you can buy in India is the Cedia for 7.99 lakhs which does not fall into everyone's budget.
The Mirage twins could provide Mitsubishi the necessary leverage that in needs to success in the Indian market. Once the volumes are in place, Mitsubishi can look forward to bringing in the new Lancer in India.
[Source: Theophiluschin.com]
