Photo: Mitsubishi
The past couple of years have been interesting – to say the least – for the Carabinieri. Alfa Romeo and Fiat stopped making hatchbacks, leaving the national gendarmerie to look elsewhere. The most recent example is the 308 GTi from Peugeot, a compact hot hatchback that looks great in deep blue with red accents and the requisite decals.
This time around, Mitsubishi decided to set up two examples of the Eclipse Cross for the General Command of Rome of the Arma dei Carabinieri. It appears the two parties chose the compact crossover “for the high performance of the 1.5-liter turbo engine and the great safety that the Super All Wheel Control guarantees in all driving and terrain conditions.”
After taking a deep breath than laughing out loud about this poor choice of words, do remember that Mitsubishi also supplied Pajero models for high-risk duty. To this effect and in comparison to the Eclipse Cross, the range-topping SUV had been optioned with armored body panels.
Prior to the Eclipse Cross and Pajero, Mitsubishi supplied the Carabinieri with i-MIEV models for patrolling in urban centers such as Rome. You know, that bug-like electric car which sold 447 examples in 2017 all across Europe. The reason the i-MIEV is no longer in favor with EV customers is that it’s too old to be relevant against modern competitors such as the Nissan Leaf, Opel Ampera-e, and Hyundai Kona Electric.
Turning our attention back to the Eclipse Cross, the cheapest configuration starts at 24,950 euros in Italy. The Qashqai and Kadjar kick off at €21,250 and €21,350, respectively, which goes to show that Mitsubishi still doesn’t understand how to be competitive in this segment, even against Alliance partners Nissan and Renault.
Sales of the Eclipse Cross aren’t too swell either, with Mitsubishi moving 2,262 examples of the breed in Europe in September 2018. The Qashqai and Kadjar, by comparison, managed to sell 14,409 and 5,055 units that month.
As much as we like to cheer for the underdog, Mitsubishi has to get its act together A.S.A.P. unless it wants to delve deeper into irrelevance.
After taking a deep breath than laughing out loud about this poor choice of words, do remember that Mitsubishi also supplied Pajero models for high-risk duty. To this effect and in comparison to the Eclipse Cross, the range-topping SUV had been optioned with armored body panels.
Prior to the Eclipse Cross and Pajero, Mitsubishi supplied the Carabinieri with i-MIEV models for patrolling in urban centers such as Rome. You know, that bug-like electric car which sold 447 examples in 2017 all across Europe. The reason the i-MIEV is no longer in favor with EV customers is that it’s too old to be relevant against modern competitors such as the Nissan Leaf, Opel Ampera-e, and Hyundai Kona Electric.
Turning our attention back to the Eclipse Cross, the cheapest configuration starts at 24,950 euros in Italy. The Qashqai and Kadjar kick off at €21,250 and €21,350, respectively, which goes to show that Mitsubishi still doesn’t understand how to be competitive in this segment, even against Alliance partners Nissan and Renault.
Sales of the Eclipse Cross aren’t too swell either, with Mitsubishi moving 2,262 examples of the breed in Europe in September 2018. The Qashqai and Kadjar, by comparison, managed to sell 14,409 and 5,055 units that month.
As much as we like to cheer for the underdog, Mitsubishi has to get its act together A.S.A.P. unless it wants to delve deeper into irrelevance.
Google News