I suppose the biggest news to hit the automotive scene this month is the fact that Mitsubishi are withdrawing from the UK market – stating that the only service it will provide to the UK is “aftersales” for their existing customers. The car maker already confirmed that they were leaving continental Europe last year so it really does sound like this is the end. Their reasons are a lack of profitability, and wishing to concentrate more on their own domestic market and SE Asia.
Obviously as a car enthusiast our initial reaction is to think of the Evo, the GTO, the FTO, and all the great names and history that are associated with the brand. But the reality is that most of us would struggle to name a model they currently sell – beyond the PHev Outlander, and L200. They have been on a bit of a steady decline turning out bland hatchbacks, and crossovers in recent years and those golden days of the Evo VI were a long time ago. Longer than most of us would care to remember.
I can double this as the auction insight as well, as all of the Heritage Fleet is up for sale here. The highlights being a Tommi Makinen edition EVO VI with some 10k miles on it , an extremely low miles EVO IX FQ-360, or (at time of writing) something with a slightly nicer price a 1988 Starion, or a vast array of cherished plates ending “MMC”.
It makes you a bit sad looking through the listings. These are some great cars, by a great manufacturer - I suppose it’s a rather defiant way of them telling us that the EVO is definitely not coming back!