It appears to be the end of the road for the legendary Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, at least that seems to be the case, as Mitsubishi’s head of Global Product Development, Gayu Eusegi, has mentioned that the Evo X will be the last Evo derivative made by the Japanese automaker.
The Evo no longer features in the plans of the carmaker as Eusegi says that the company is shifting its strategy to put their focus on leadership in electric vehicle technology. With that in mind, the Evo’s equally legendary petrol-guzzling abilities wouldn’t seem to match up wih that newfound direction.
Despite singlehandedly keeping the Mitsubishi name afloat in recent years and its massive popularity in the rallying and racing circles, Mitsubishi is apparently not afraid of making the huge move and believes that consumers will grow on the idea of electric vehicles and get behind the brand.
Furthermore, as the aim to solidify their belief in electric vehicles, killing of the petrol-guzzler in their line-up would only serve to strengthen their fortitude towards an increasingly environmentally-conscious car-buying public in pursuing their new direction.
If you’re secretly hoping that they would replace it with a performance-oriented hybrid, Eusegi put paid to any notion of that as well, “Maybe the world can change, and maybe someday we can do a motor race by electric vehicles. Maybe then we can enter the market again,” he said.
However, it could merely be interpreted as the death of a purely petrol-consuming Evo as a hybrid Evo would actually appeal to a wider public. Furthermore, Porsche have gone down that road too with much success and with Mitsubishi’s lead in EV, it could be a wise move to follow that path as well.
In relation to their focus on EV, Autocar has indicated that Mitsubishi will release eight fully-electric or hybrid-electric cars by 2015 with the aim of grabbing a huge slice of the CO2-reduction pie.
Source: Autoblog
