Mitsubishi plots SUV onslaught

Mitsubishi expects next month’s facelifted ASX range, an upgraded Challenger in November and a new and expanded Outlander line-up due from the same month to dramatically increase its presence in Australia’s booming SUV sector within 12 months, before a redesigned Pajero arrives in 2014.

The new-look MY13 ASX family is expected to boost monthly sales from 400 to about 600 when it is formally released on September 1, while the addition of a long-awaited diesel-auto version in 12 months is forecast to give one of Australia’s most popular city-SUVs even broader appeal.

An all-new Pajero full-size SUV is due in 2014 – potentially with plug-in capability – but before then Mitsubishi hopes the MY13 Challenger off-roader and bigger new Outlander medium SUV will help lift its total SUV sales to an average of 2500 a month – up from less than 2000 currently.

The next phase in Mitsubishi’s rapid SUV rollout in Australia will be the local debut of the third-generation Outlander at the Sydney Motor Show, before sales of the bigger new seven-seat crossover commence here in November.

Petrol and, for the first time, diesel versions of the next Outlander will be followed by the local release of the world’s first plug-in-SUV (although Mitsubishi is billing it only as the world’s first plug-in hybrid all-wheel drive production car) next May.

The Outlander PHEV will make its global premiere in production form at the Paris Motor Show next month, and will go on sale here with a pricetag lower than that of Holden’s upcoming Volt – Australia’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle – which will be priced from $59,990.

Asked at last week’s MY13 ASX launch if the Outlander PHEV will be cheaper than the Volt, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited’s Product and Planning Manager Tony Principe said: “It will be a lot lower than that [Volt]. Our intention is to get this down into the mainstream.”

The outgoing Outlander range is topped by the petrol V6-powered 3.0 VRX priced at $52,640, which could provide a good indication of how the new Outlander PHEV will be priced, given it will effectively replace the six-cylinder engine in the new range.

“We can’t say what the price will be, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you see it,” said MMAL Product Manager James Tol. “It’s not going to be [that expensive] that you’ll fall over dead. We’re working hard to get a very good price.”

What’s more, the plug-in hybrid Outlander will be capable of driving between Melbourne and Sydney without stopping, thanks to a claimed driving range of about 800km, depending on speed and conditions – more than the extended-range Volt electric hatch, which can travel for 600km between refuelling or recharging.

Mr Principe said the ground-breaking new petrol-electric Outlander will deliver the performance of a V6 with running costs less than a four-cylinder, as well as exceptional off-road traction, with the Concept PX-MiEV II show car that previewed it claimed to consume just 1.66L/100km and emit less than 50g/km of CO2 – shattering the Toyota’s Prius benchmarks of 3.9L/100km and 89g/km.

As we’ve reported, the Outlander PHEV /news/2012/medium-4x4/mitsubishi/outlander/paris-premiere-for-plug-in-outlander-30883 is a full parallel hybrid that can travel about 50km on electric power alone (not as far as the Volt’s estimated 87km) via an electric motor on each axle, before a petrol engine kicks in when its lithium-ion battery is depleted.

The electrified Outlander will offer three distinct drive modes: all-electric ‘Pure’ (with both motors providing all-wheel electric drive), range-extending ‘Series’ (ditto, but with the engine acting as a generator)) and motor-assisted ‘Parallel’, in which the petrol engine directly drives the front wheels and is supported by both electric motors under load, making it more advanced than other PHEVs such as the Volt.

However, it won’t be the only fuel-efficient version of the new Outlander, which rides on the same 2670mm wheelbase as the outgoing model and measures the same 1800mm wide and 1680mm high, but is 10mm longer at 4665mm and has 335mm more cargo area length. MMAL has confirmed the Australian line-up will include 2.0 and 2.4-litre petrol engines, plus a new 2.2-litre diesel. All but the new 2.0-litre petrol version will come with a fuel-saving idle-stop system.

Opening the range will be a five-seat front-wheel drive 2.0-litre petrol-powered model, while 2.4-litre petrol, 2.2-litre diesel and PHEV models will come with seven seats as standard, making the latter Australia’s first seven-seat plug-in vehicle. Mitsubishi says the new Outlander will eschew the current model’s kids-only one-piece rear bench for a 50/50-split third row seat with similar room to the Challenger.

The new 2.0-litre petrol Outlander will come with 110kW/195Nm and five-speed manual or continuously variable automatic transmissions (CVT), while the oil-burner makes a beefier 360Nm between 1500-2750rpm and will be available with six-speed manual and automatic gearboxes.

Top-shelf versions of the new Outlander should come with intelligent driver-aid technologies like frontal radar/camera-based lane departure and collision avoidance systems, adaptive cruise control, a high-resolution instrument panel, “wide-vision” Xenon headlights and power-operated tailgate. Other new features will include flat-folding second-row seats, a one-piece tailgate, dual-zone air-conditioning and, finally, reach adjustment for the steering wheel.

Mitsubishi is already clearing the decks of the current Outlander, with the announcement today of an LS runout model, priced from $28,990. Available in either manual or CVT form – but with five seats only – the Outlander LS brings to the table an enhancement pack featuring leather seat trim, heated front seats and power driver’s seat with electric slide, recline and height adjustment functions and Bluetooth 1.2. 18-inch alloys with a full-size spare are standard, and the two-wheel drive model comes with side and curtain airbags (already standard in the 4WD variants). Completing the package inside is a bright-finish treatment for door handles, console panel and rear door trim.

Providing stiff competition for the new Outlander, whose share of the booming sub-$60K medium SUV segment has slumped from 9.3 to 7.7 per cent this year following the release of new models including Mazda’s CX-5, will face stiff competition from Toyota’s new RAV4, due here in early 2013.

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