Indian Autos blog

A car that we have been tracking quite closely as we believe it can play the turnaround specialist for Mitsubishi in India is the Mitsubishi Mirage. Some signs of the Mirage’s potential are on display in the Thailand already where it was launched in March 2012.

The BangkokPost reports that the Mirage is a massive hit in Thailand. It has moped up some serious bookings since the launch. This has prompted Mitsubishi Motors Thailand to step up production at its assembly lines.

Update – Hindustan Motors replied to our query on the price update. There is no change in price, it remains at 41.34 lacs ex-showroom Delhi.

Hindustan Motors has introduced a mildly updated Mitsubishi Montero MY2012 with a host of visual changes including a modified front bumper, new chrome radiator grille, new finish on power window panel and new stitch design on leather seats.

The interior illumination colour has been switched from blue to red. There have been no changes made under the car’s skin with the 3.2-liter diesel engine producing 202 PS@3,800 rpm/441 Nm@2000 rpm continuing to provide motive force. Three colors are offered to customers in India including solid white, black mica and cool silver metallic shades.

Hindustan Motors has notified us that the Mitsubishi Outlander 2012 model is now available in showrooms, equipped with seven seats. The technical specifications do not change with power derived from a 2.4-liter petrol engine. It outputs 170PS and 226Nm.

Notable features on the 2012 Outlander include keyless entry, split tailgate, 710 watt Rockford Fosgate music system and paddle shifters and cruise control.

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While we have been discussing whether the Mitsubishi Mirage should come to India, the Japanese automaker has started the production of the Mirage in Thailand. It will be produced at the company’s brand-new factory at Laem Chabang. The Mirage is a very important car for Mitsubishi because it replaces the old Colt hatchback in numerous markets.

The Mirage will be on sale in Thailand next week and later will be exported to other Southeast Asian countries followed by Japan, Europe and other markets around the world. In the Thai market the Mirage will be priced between THB 380,000 to 551,000 (approximately 6 – 9 lakhs).

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Mitsubishi Motor Corporation is finally waking up to the Indian market. After two consecutive launches of the Pajero Sport and the Outlander 7 Seater, the company is contemplating on making India its global small car hub. The interesting fact is that Mitsubishi has no presence in the hatchback segment in India which constitutes for 70% of the market. The company’s existing products are all in the sedan and SUV market.

Mitsubishi has seven manufacturing facilities across Japan, North America, the Netherlands (Europe), Thailand and Philippines at present. It has 11 tie-ups for producing vehicles in another 10 countries. However, it has only one plant to manufacture their small car – Mirage in Thailand.

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Mitsubishi Motors may have been quiet for a lot of years in India the Japanese automaker is definitely buzzing these days though a bit quietly. After the launch of the Pajero Sport in New Delhi, the company has silently slipped in a 7 seater version of the Outlander at a price of Rs 19.95 lakhs.

Interestingly, the 7 seater version is actually cheaper than the 5 seater version by a good 1 lakh rupees. Having said that, the third row seats do look a bit funny.

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In this post we have a walkaround video of the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and high quality images captured at the car’s launch in Delhi today morning.

The Pajero Sport is a CBU product, bookings of which will begin tomorrow morning. It is priced at 23.53 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) and and is powered by a 2.5-liter diesel engine. You can view the brochure for the rest of the technical specification.

Mitsubishi will begin assembling the product at the Chennai facility from September.

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Mr AS Narayanan, Director, Hindustan Motors, sounded bullish on the future of the Pajero Sport in India that has been hotly anticipated for the last couple of years. To keep you fully updated, we have discussed some of the answers the company officials provided the media at the press conference this morning.

Here’s Mr Narayanan sending out a quick video message to readers of Indian Autos Blog from the launch floor. Turn up the volume and take a listen!