Mitsubishi hints Lancer Evolution to live on!

The Lancer Evolution X will have a successor!

Just a few weeks back Mitsubishi announced that the Lancer Evolution might meet its end after the Evo X goes out of production. Now that news didn’t really hit the right notes with scores of fans of the Lancer Evolution through its various generations and the aftermath of worldwide protests and brickbats on Mitsubishi’s statement has caused the Japanese manufacturer to instantly make what can only be described as a sharp hand-brake U-turn! Quite fitting, given the Lancer Evo’s legendary rally pedigree, we say! The Press Release starts off with a whole lot of praise for the Lancer Evolution X and highlights the car’s advanced engineering with its Super-All Wheel Control (S-AWC) and Twin Clutch Sports Shift Transmission (TC-SST), then moving on to glorify its sharp design as well as comprehensive equipment lists in the UK. We agree to all of that for sure and can’t find anyone out there who’ll challenge the potential that the Evo X has. With newly reduced prices starting at £29,699 (approx. Rs.21.66 lakh - yes, it's cheaper there thanks to the huge import duties in India!), the Lancer Evo X is quite a steal as well.

Under the Evo X’s hood is a 4B11 DOHC MIVEC turbocharged engine offering superior power and torque to the all wheel drive system. Mitsubishi had planned to quell the Lancer Evolution series in a bid to move towards a more environment-friendly future for its products in keeping with their announcement at this year’s Geneva Motor Show to make available a number of Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) and pure Electric Vehicles (EVs) by 2015. MMC President and Global Chief Executive, Osamu Masuko has said, "We recognise that automakers have a responsibility to take the lead in developing environmental initiatives... Our goal is to become a world leader in the reduction of CO2 emissions on a global scale. Production of the current Lancer Evolution X continues as planned. As for its successor, regulations and market feedback will dictate its engineering package and architecture. MMC has kept the Lancer Evolution sedan evolving as the brand’s highest performing model in the global market. However, as the markets needs and demands change, MMC is considering not advancing the Lancer Evolution concept in the same way as before, but to find a different direction for the Lancer Evolution model to evolve. The new direction, the technologies involved, and corresponding products will be disclosed in due course."

So while nothing has been declared as far as the Lancer Evolution’s successor is concerned, we can be content that the Evo at least has a future in the first place! Now let’s just hope that the Lancer Evo evolves in a satisfactory direction.