Mitsubishi Motors Recent Sales Success Could Result in Ralliart Investments

Mitsubishi Motors has been changing up ever since it joined the Renault-Nissan Alliance to become the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Sharing resources and working on plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles, we should soon see a growth in the Mitsubishi Motors lineup. In March 2022, the Alliance announced “Alliance 2030”, a new business plan for the rest of the decade. Mitsubishi also announced its own plans for the next two years, with a focus on electrified options and its upcoming Ralliart special editions. The result is a lot of success in sales for Mitsubishi over the next few years.

In March 2023, Mitsubishi Motors announced its “Challenge 2025” Business Strategy. Like the automaker did when introducing the new generation of its lineup, a lot of vehicles are under wraps or complete secrets. What we can tell at face value, is out of the 35 new battery-electric vehicle (BEV) models planned for Alliance 2030, with several amongst the 16 models scheduled to launch over the next two years (203-2025). In addition, the 2023 Mitsubishi Motors lineup seems to be having a number of changes, with new models and new editions.

The name “Ralliart” has been circulating the lineup when the automaker decided to revive the performance group. Ralliart was responsible for the likes of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution sports car, and recently, has proven Mitsubishi Motors is still capable of winning a race. In 2022, Mitsubishi entered its Ralliart Triton pickup truck into the Asia Cross Country Rally, a 637 km that starts in Thailand, consisting of high-speed stages on rough, dry unpaved roads, followed by muddy driving conditions and puddles, ending with five timed special stages in Cambodia. Mitsubishi finished with a total time of 8 hours, 22 minutes and 42 seconds and won first place. If Ralliart can do that to an older model, then what could it mean for upcoming models?

It’s just a rumor for now, the return of Ralliart sports cars, but the 2023 lineup has a Ralliart special edition coming out for the Mitsubishi Outlander, Outlander Sport, Eclipse Cross, and the Mirage. So far, it’s just some flashy graphics and some additions for off-road performance, such as red mud flaps and larger wheel arches. Mitsubishi Motors President Takao Kato also alluded to the possibility of sports cars, seeing as how the fans behind the automaker’s rally days are still alive and racing.

“We will also consider involvement in rallies…We made a big loss in the previous fiscal year, so we want to revive the company first and then give out as many cars as possible that fans are waiting for.” – Kato

Ralliart-inspired models could definitely be a part of the Challenge 2025 lineup, especially after the Mitsubishi Vision Ralliart Concept received the greenlight for production. The upsurge in recent sales can also help the automaker invest in models it may deem risky, with the majority of the lineup still relying on SUVs. The Outlander PHEV sold more than 104-percent and 122-percent over the same month and quarter, respectively. The Outlander Sport also had an increase of more than 24-percent for the quarter. With the current success, expanding on their selection of performance vehicles as well as BEVs.

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Photo Source/Copyright: Mitsubishi Media