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Mitsubishi Mirage Coming to US in September 2013

Suzuki just pulled the plug on their US car selling business and will focus on the motorcycles from now on. In a recent editorial, we talked about what went wrong and concluded one does not simply sell cars designed for Japanese consumers in North America.
JDM Mirage 1 photo
Photo: original image created by autoevolution
With sale down to just 55,000 units a year, Mitsubishi has been rumored to be following Suzuki i the bankruptcy courts, but Mitsubishi President Osamu Masuko says the company remains committed and will launch two new cars by 2014, according to Autonews.

One of them is the Mirage, a car designed for the global market. In Europe, it replaces the Colt, but we’re not convinced that it really can do so. However, in the US, there really isn’t much of a market for such small cars. Still, they will export the Mirage from Thailand directly to the US starting September 2013. Chances are, it won’t even get a makeover to suit US consumers, since Mitsubishi rarely does this.

With a base price of about $12,000, plenty of interesting toys and good styling, Chevrolet managed to shift 8,500 Sparks so far this year. Can the Mirage really compete?

In Japan, the bog standard Mirage is offered with a 1-liter engine and a CVT gearbox for JPY998,000 ($12,800).
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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