PARIS (Reuters) – Mitsubishi unveiled its new Colt on Thursday, a city car that has been absent from Europe for ten years and which will be produced from September at the Renault plant in Bursa, Turkey, as part of a of the most recent joint projects of the Franco-Japanese alliance.
This seventh generation of the car is derived from the Renault Clio and will be available in thermal and hybrid versions.
Between 1978 and 2014, the previous six generations of the Colt sold over 1.2 million units in Europe.
“The new Colt marks the return of Mitsubishi Motors to a key segment in Europe, that of compact vehicles, as well as the rebirth of an iconic model for the brand,” said Frank Krol, President and Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors Europe, quoted in a press release.
After the ASX, a variation of the Renault Captur, Mitsubishi is continuing its European launches by taking advantage of the economies of scale – in R&D and production – offered by the alliance with Renault and Nissan.
Other models should follow, including a possible version of the future electric Renault Scenic, according to sources.
The exploitation of synergies between Renault and Mitsubishi on the one hand, and between Renault and Nissan on the other – on the Micra in Europe and other vehicles in India – is one of the main drivers of the new Franco-Japanese alliance, with the rebalancing of holdings and the possible entry of the two Japanese partners into the future electric entity of Renault Ampère. The definitive agreements to create this new alliance, envisaged in the first quarter, have still not been signed.
(Gilles Guillaume report, edited by Kate Entringer)
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