New Lancer looks for bigger and better things

Australia's small car 'quiet achiever' is about to start yelling. The all-new Lancer hits dealer showrooms at the end of the month and with it Mitsubishi is looking to lift its profile significantly in the country's largest single vehicle segment.

Bigger, bolder but more efficient and safer than its predecessor, the new Lancer is a make or break car for the manufacturer/importer. Mitsubishi is pitching the car to Aussie buyers with a new engine and significantly improved equipment levels including standard stability control across the range.

As is the expectation in the local car market, the new model arrives with only modest price increases -- on RRP anyway.

Coded 'CJ', the new Lancer features a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine (versus the 2.4-litre four of the CH model). And while the new engine is not only cleaner-running and more economical -- as you might expect -- it's also more powerful and develops more torque.

According to Mitsubishi's comparison data, the new Lancer engine tops its class. Peak power is 113kW and maximum torque is 198Nm, which happily comes on strong at 4250rpm, lower in the engine rev range than the torque figures for the Lancer's most obvious competitors.

The engine features all-alloy construction, double overhead cams and plastic intake manifold, and is mated to a five-speed manual transmission or optional CVT automatic transmission. The latter offers six pre-sets with a sequential paddle-shift feature in the flagship VRX specification.

The new car is also larger in every dimension than the CH model that preceded it. There's extra weight to go with that (about 40kg more), but considering the overall improvement in refinement and passive safety, that's a reasonable trade-off.

35mm of extra wheelbase and 60mm increase in track contribute to improved interior dimensions -- best exemplified by the 25mm gain in hip room for the front-seat passengers.

Prices start from $20,990 for the entry-level ES. This is $1000 more than the entry-level model in the CH range, but the specification (see more below) is substantially improved and the design represents five years' advance in engineering development.

The stepless CVT transmission is a $2300 option for all grades, so the ES with CVT is priced at $23,290.

Prices for the mid-range VR grade start at $25,290 -- this is an $1800 increase over the outgoing LS model. Topping the Lancer range (at least until the arrival of the turbo models) is the VRX at $28,990 -- up $1000 on the CH.

The company's benchmark five-year/130,000km warranty and 10-year/160,000km powertrain warranty are offered on the new Lancer.

Mitsubishi has equipped the new Lancer with standard stability control across the range. In the context of passive safety, a driver's knee airbag is fitted as standard for all models and distinguishes the Lancer from its competitors. All grades other than the base ES variant are fitted with side curtain airbags.

The ES models can be specified with side curtain airbags at extra cost, but in the wash-up, Mitsubishi chose to leave these as an option for the price-leader.

This and the other safety features should be good for a five-star NCAP rating, says Mitsubishi. The car is yet to be tested.

The safety suite adds weight to Mitsubishi's claim that the Lancer's combination of added specification and competitive pricing bestows an advantage over segment competitors such as the Honda Civic, Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla.

Ford's Focus is cheaper than the entry-level Lancer, but Mitsubishi can cite the Focus's lower engine output, optional DSC and the lack of safety features such as the driver's knee airbag as just three reasons to consider the Lancer ahead of the Ford.

Indeed, there's probably only one thing that will hold Mitsubishi back from staking a significantly higher profile in the small car segment -- the new Lancer's sedan-only range.

With most competitors offering a choice of sedan or hatch (Honda notwithstanding), the new CJ Lancer is arguably hobbled in the short term. Although Mitsubishi will eventually have a hatch version to add to the range, the CH's wagon is no more.

But that's the only 'cloud'. The new car, on sale at the end of the month, shifts Mitsubishi away from the 'sales at any price' mentality that has held sway over Lancer marketing for years. If Mitsubishi has its way the new big small car will sell more on the basis of 'product' than pricing.

Thus the Adelaide-based manufacturer/importer conservatively forecasts sales of 1500 units per month on average. By way of comparison the soon-to-be superseded CH has logged over 12,000 sales year to date August -- about 1500 units per month. It should be noted this is 30 per cent up on sales for the same period in 2006.

On the subject of the outgoing model, Mitsubishi says it has no more 'plant stock' and only around 450 units in dealer stock. In other words, with less than two weeks to the new Lancer's on-sale date, Mitsubishi has considerably less than half of the inventory in dealer stock that it sold for the month of August.

Look out for The Carsales network's launch review of the new CJ Lancer next week.

CJ Lancer Standard equipment overview

ES: from $20,990

VR: from $25,290
ES spec plus

VRX: from $28,990
VR spec plus

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