Future
In March 2011, rumours of discontinuation of the Lancer Evolution program started when AutoCar UK's journalist Matt Prior wrote on his interview with Gayu Eusegi, Mitsubishi’s Global Product Director, and quoted him saying 'The Lancer Evolution X, Eusegi told me, will be the last Evo. “There is still a demand ,” he said, “but we must stop.” Eyebrow up.' This created a lot of discussion on the Internet.
Mitsubishi Motors would later state that "Further to some comments published in the press recently, production of the current Lancer Evolution continues as planned. As for its successor, regulations and market feedback will dictate its engineering package & architecture. Stay tuned.." Industry analysts would read the statement as indirectly hinting that the Evolution nameplate will remain, but is likely to be an environmentally friendly powertrain (possibly electric or hybrid), inline with increasingly stringent emission and environmental regulations.
AutoCar UK later updated its blog post, adding references to EV, further confirming what industry watchers originally speculated. Most recent news shows that Mitsubishi has been leaning towards the PX-MIEV hybrid drivetrain, explaining that the electric motors will act as a turbo for the Evolution. Mitsubishi claims that their more "green" version of the Evolution will be just as good or even better in the performance category.
In October 2011, the President of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, confirmed to AutoCar that work on the next Evo will start in 2012 and will go on sale within the following three years. It is said that the car will feature electric power from a hybrid drivetrain, maintaining performance of 0-62 mph time under five seconds while cutting CO2 emissions.
Read more about this topic: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
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