Mitsubishi Lancer EX to Be Made in China, Sold as Lanse Yishen

Mitsubishi will build the Lancer EX in China after all, with production handed to Fujian-based partner Southeast Motor. Manufacturing will start later this year and will come along with a brand new name for the car: Lanse Yishen, as gasgoo.com wrote citing a report by Shanghai Securities Journal.

The Chinese-built Mitsubishi Lancer EX is expected to be launched in the domestic market by the end of the year, but there's still no word on the official date for the beginning of production. Nevertheless, Southeast Motor says it is already prepared to start building Lancers, which are going to compete with the Civic, built in China by Dongfeng Honda, and Focus, courtesy of Changan Ford.

The Lancer EX is already available for sale in China, being imported in the country since last autumn, according to the aforementioned source. Besides the LX, Mitsubishi also plans to bring a full range of Lancers to be manufactured in Fujian, but there are no specific details on the matter, other than production is likely to begin later this year.

Mitsubishi sees China as a very important market so the company has established a whole new strategy that would result in bigger sales in the country. The Lancer EX is just the first model to arrive in China and support Mitsubishi in its enthusiastic plans, so more cars are expected to be launched in the upcoming months.

What's interesting is that the Lancer has always been a successful model in China, accounting for even 60 percent of all new car sales posted by Southeast Motor, the official Chinese partner of the Japanese manufacturer.