The Mitsubishi Evo will live on, but not in a way that automotive enthusiasts might have imagined.
In an interview with Autocar, the Japanese automaker’s head, Tetsuro Aikawa, said that the company plans to launch a vehicle with “Evo characteristics,” but it will be in the form of electrification. According to Aikawa, “In Japanese, when you pronounce ‘Oh’, it means ‘king.’ So we would like to launch this type of car, featuring EV and PHEV technology, which is the ultimate of its kind. ‘EV’ for electric vehicle, ‘O’ for king – Evo.”
It is believed that the model sporting the Evo nameplate will be based on the XR-PHEV II concept, that debuted at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. The production model will be the next-generation ASX and the high-performance variant will be all-wheel drive, just like past Lancer Evolution models.
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Research and development from the company’s Pikes Peak competition team and the MiEV Evolution could help in creating the high-performance crossover. The launch of the next ASX is due in 2016, but don’t expect the Evo model to follow anytime soon. “To develop these kind of vehicles, we have to sell a lot of the base models, so we can cover the research and development costs,” added Aikawa.
[Source: Autocar]
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