Eclipse Cross Joins Mitsubishi Spain’s CUV Lineup

MADRID – Mitsubishi sets a modest target for growth in the Spanish market this year by looking to sell 11,200 vehicles, up 11.2% from 10,070 delivered last year.

Sales mainly will be built on three CUV models: the refreshed ASX and the gasoline and plug-in hybrid versions of the Outlander. Yet another CUV, the Eclipse Cross coupe, will debut at the upcoming Geneva auto show and won’t come to market until late in the year, slotted between the ASX and Outlander.

Here is how Jorge Belzunce, CEO of B&M Automobile, Mitsubishi’s importer for Spain, breaks down the sales forecast: 6,000 ASX models, flat with 2016; 2,400 Outlanders (1,950 in 2016); 1,000 Outlander PHEVs (610 in 2016); 600 Montero large CUVs (flat with 2016), and 750 L200 pickups (460 in 2016).

Belzunce notes the Outlander PHEV last year captured a 40.3% market share in Spain, where more than 20 new models will be launched in 2017 and 2018 by rival automakers.

The ʼ17 ASX will be offered with three engines: a 1.6L gasoline-powered version making 117 hp, and two diesels, a 1.6L and 2.0L generating 114 hp and 150 hp, respectively.

The Outlander offers a choice of a 2.0L gasoline engine and a 2.2L diesel, each producing 150 hp. The PHEV turns out 203 hp and can travel 35 miles (54 km) in electric mode.

The Eclipse Cross initially will come with a 1.5L, 160-hp gasoline engine that later will be complemented with a diesel and a PHEV powertrain.

Mitsubishi ultimately will reconfigure its lineup so a future Outlander would be bigger than the existing one and a future ASX would be smaller than the current one, with the Eclipse Cross remaining slotted between the two.

Mitsubishi plans an aggressive pricing campaign for 2017. The ASX will be offered from €15,900 ($16,800), the final price after a €3,000 ($3,200) incentive and another €2,000 ($2,100) if the sale is financed by Mitsubishi’s Spanish lending arm. Outlander pricing starts at €23,400 ($24,800) if similar incentives and financing are applied.

Meanwhile, Spanish media are rife with speculation Mitsubishi models might be assembled in Spain now that the Renault-Nissan Alliance has acquired a 34% stake in the Japan’s fifth-largest automaker (Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan).

Both Nissan and Renault cars and trucks currently are built in Spain; asked if Mitsubishi production might be extended to Spain as well, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, who recently turned over the Nissan chief executive’s position to Hiroto Sakawa, said, “We cannot rule it out.”