Mitsubishi readies refreshed ASX
Production of Mitsubishi's upgraded ASX city-crossover begins in US a month before MY13 model arrives hereMitsubishi's facelifted ASX has entered production in the USA, and the new-look MY13 city-SUV will go on sale in Australia in late August, alongside an upgraded Lancer.
The midlife update for the ASX, which was first introduced in 2010, is largely cosmetic and there will be no changes to the gearbox or engine options, with the 2.0-litre petrol and 1.8-litre turbo diesel engines returning for active duty.
Mitsubishi's decision to begin building the ASX at its American plant in Illinois will ease the load on the Japanese plant, which is where Australian models are sourced.
The Japanese plant also produces the Peugeot 4008 and Citroen C4 Aircross SUVs – essentially rebadged and re-faced versions of the ASX that also went on sale here in the past two months.
Global demand for the Mitsubishi ASX and its derivatives is steadily increasing, with a quarter of million ASXs sold since launch, and though the US plant previously only built vehicles for the domestic North American market, Mitsubishi is now calling the facility a “strategic global production and export hub”.
The ASX – which is known as the Outlander Sport in the US and RVR in some Asian markets – will be exported from the Illinois plant to Russia and countries in the Middle East and Central and South America.
The Illinois plant produces around 50,000 cars per year, but Mitsubishi is expected to increase capacity to around 70,000 vehicles annually, which it will need to do if the ASX's global popularity continues.
Mitsubishi's decision to expand its US operations follows the lead of many Japanese car-makers who are keen to spread their production loads and increase profitability in the face of a surging Yen, as well as to avoid production shortages like those seen after the 2011 natural disasters that ravaged Japan.
The Mitsubishi ASX was the third highest selling small SUV in Australia last year, but has dropped to fifth place thus far in 2012 behind the Nissan Dualis, Hyundai ix35, Subaru XV and Volkswagen Tiguan. To June this year the ASX has found 3767 buyers and 12.8 per cent of the small SUV market.
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