The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross has made its Japanese debut at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show. The new compact crossover was unveiled at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show in March.
The Mitsubishi XR-PHEV Concept from the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show was further developed and introduced as the Mitsubishi XR-PHEV II Concept at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. Finally, in 2017, the production version has followed. The coupe SUV is 4,405 mm long, 1,805 mm wide and 1,685 mm tall, and it has a 2,670 mm wheelbase. It offers 183 mm of ground clearance.
Mitsubishi will sell the Eclipse Cross with two engine options. One is a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 163 PS and 250 Nm of torque. The other is a 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine developing 150 PS and 400 Nm of torque. The petrol engine sends the drive to the front wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission (2WD)/a continuously variable transmission (4WD). The diesel engine model has an 8-speed automatic transmission and a four-wheel drive system as standard.
Noteworthy features of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross are, LED headlamps, 18-inch alloy wheels, full-width light bar combining the tubular LED brake light with the central LED high-mount stop light, fold-out head-up display and 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system featuring Apple CarPlay along with a touchpad controller.
On the safety front, Mitsubishi has equipped the compact SUV with advanced technologies like Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Blind Spot Warning system (BSW) with Lane Change Assist and Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Multi-around Monitor with Bird-View Image and Automatic High Beam (AHB).
Mitsubishi builds the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross at the Okazaki Plant near Nagoya, Japan. The company shipped the first batch of the Eclipse Cross (petrol-only) to Europe on 3 October. It currently builds only the left-hand drive version of the EU-spec Eclipse Cross. Production of the right-hand drive version will start in November. In Europe, the Eclipse Cross’ sales will commence at the end of 2017. In 2018, Mitsubishi will sequentially roll out the new compact SUV in Japan, North America, Russia, Australia/New Zealand and other markets.
