PSA to Sell Rebadged i-MiEV

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has just announced the signing of a final cooperative agreement with PSA Peugeot Citroen (PSA) for the development and supply of the rebadged i-MiEV. The small electric vehicle will be sold through the Peugeot and Citroen dealer networks in Europe, says just-auto.com.

A first agreement between the two parties was signed in September 2009, but now the final terms have been stated. Production for the left hand drive version of the i-MiEV will start in October 2010, so other important markets will be able to benefit from Mitsubishi’s way of offering zero CO2 emissions. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation hopes to sell 100,000 through this agreement.

Mitsubishi is one of the first automakers to sell EVs. Mitsubishi’s little electric vehicle has been on sale in Japan since July 2009 and was very well received by the customers. By the end of 2010 i-MiEV will hit the European market, complete with a charging system compatible with European 220/240V outlets. In this layout, a full charge from scratch should take about seven hours.

The i-MiEV will also be sold in the United States of America as a Mitsubishi model. The price is believed to be around $40,000 before tax but, according to Japanese officials, in a few years it should go down 50%.

This is not the first time MMC and PSA have a model sharing deal. A while ago, the two companies signed an agreement which rebranded the Mitsubishi Outlander as the Citroen C-Crosser and the Peugeot 4007. The range uses engines provided by both MMC and PSA.