Ken Gratton•22 Nov 2013
NEWS
TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: Mitsubishi to focus on alt-energy and SUVs
Company president outlines Mitsubishi's future product skewMitsubishi has its best and brightest engineers working on vehicles like the Outlander PHEV and the prospective next-generation Pajero.
And a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) drivetrain has also been developed for the next generation ASX, meaning Mitsubishi has the PHEV systems to support both transverse and longitudinal engine mounting applications.
The company will stick with conventional hybrid drive (ie: not PHEV) and diesel for the next Triton, but most other passenger car and SUV models will be ready for a PHEV variant in each range. It's all part of the company's plan to sell as many as 20 per cent of its product portfolio 'electrified' by 2020. The Triton misses out on the PHEV system due to its popularity in emerging markets, where servicing, cost and durability will inevitably be an issue.
The groundwork was laid out for Australian journalists attending the Tokyo Motor Show earlier this week, by product and strategy spokesman, Ryugo Nakao.
Later, Mitsubishi president Osamu Masuko went into further detail, speaking through an interpreter. The strategy operates in two ways, he said: Limit R&D work to SUVs and pick-ups as far as possible, drawing on the Renault-Nissan alliance to provide platforms for other (passenger car) models. This will save the company investment funds for core product development. The second element of the strategy is to ramp up development of EV and PHEV systems now, to carry the company beyond 2020 and maintain the company's standing at the forefront of this enviro-tech charge by the auto industry.
"For MMC [Mitsubishi Motors Corporation]... if we were to make from 'kei' car to A segment, to all the line-up models, to develop on our own and launch into the market, then it would be very difficult for a company of our size to do that," Masuko-san explained.
"If we are going to compete in the world, and when we think about the technology and product that we compete [against] in the world market, then a lot of the people have great expectations [of] Mitsubishi, related to SUV, for the driving and environment-friendly technology."
Asked about the risk in narrowing the company's product development path this way, the Mitsubishi boss replied that it was, in fact, riskier to try to cover all bases.
"Maybe you might say it's a risk that we don't have vehicles in all the segments... you may call it a risk, but it would be better to concentrate on technology and product that we are very good at and where we could compete. It's for the benefit of the company to focus on what we're good at..."
Pictures show GC-PHEV show car (proposal for new Pajero) in silver, Concept AR MPV in green, XR-PHEV show car (proposal for ASX successor) in red.
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Written byKen Gratton
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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