Why Mitsubishi is so successful right now

Menus

• The secret of the new Mitsubishi success
• Citroën and Peugeot get out
• The VW Passat is now also available as a plug-in hybrid
• New chance even for the lancer
• That’s how hefty the surcharges for hybrid cars are
• Steep curve, but overall low market share
• This BMW emits nothing but water vapor

The secret of the new Mitsubishi success

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PHEV: This abbreviation is likely to be familiar to more and more people, because the Mitsubishi Outlander is Europe’s best-selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, and in 2015 there was still an over…working on. It will also become a classic as a socket car …

Source: Mitsubishi –

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… Give pajero. In 2017, the off-road vehicle legend – the model won the Dakar Rally twelve times – is to be completely overhauled not only with a powerful diesel but also with the technology of the socket-…Outlanders PHEV go on sale. The new generation of the packhorse will come in a new outfit this year …

Source: Mitsubishi

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… L200 on the market, a classic pick-up. But the draft horse in the manufacturer’s program is that …

Source: sp-x

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… Space star. The small car is Mitsubishi‘s best-selling model – alongside the …

Source: Mitsubishi

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… ASX, which belongs to the boom segment of compact SUVs. It will also be available as a plug-in, the new generation is planned for 2016. As a harbinger, both in terms of drive technology and… also regarding the design language …

Source: Mitsubishi

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… The XR-PHEV II study made its appearance at the Geneva Motor Show 2015. In Europe, the model plays a subordinate role in terms of sales figures …

Source: Mitsubishi

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… Lancer, seen here as a Sportback station wagon. The manufacturer is loyal to the series, which has been in production since 1973, in Europe. The next generation can be expected in 2018/2019…n.

Source: Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi‘s sales figures are surprisingly good right now. Modern technology, jagged optics and a new sales structure make it possible. And above all the new drive technology.

W.he would have thought that? Europe’s best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle does not come from Toyota. Not even from Mercedes or the Volkswagen Group, where this drive technology has lately been very important.

It is the Mitsubishi Outlander that tops the list of alternative drives. The SUV model from Japan found more than 3,000 buyers in the first two months of this year alone.

Great Britain and the Netherlands are the top-selling markets for plug-in vehicles in Europe. On the island alone, after the market launch in June 2014, more than 10,000 units were registered for the first time within ten months.

One reason for its popularity, however, is the generous subsidies from the British state. In the UK, the plug-in hybrid Outlander overtook pure battery cars in terms of the absolute number of vehicles registered, such as the Nissan Leaf, which has been on the market since 2011.

Citroën and Peugeot get out

The figures show that Mitsubishi has apparently taken the right course strategically: Even before the success could be foreseen, the company headquarters in Japan heard that they wanted 20 to 25 percent of their new vehicles with plug-in over the next five years. Equip hybrid or pure electric drives.

In relation to the annual production volume – the forecast is 1.5 million units – this would be between 300,000 and 400,000 cars that have an alternative drive under the hood.

The VW Passat is now also available as a plug-in hybrid

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Most mass manufacturers assume that plug-in hybrids’ low consumption is why they are bought. At Volkswagen it’s no different, so ve…The manufacturer combines economy with sportiness in the Passat. This is why the new Passat with plug-in hybrid is called GTE.

Source: VW

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However, it will hardly be the purchase price that weakens Passat customers. The sedan costs 44,250 euros, …

Source: VW

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… You have to spend a thousand more for the much more popular station wagon than GTE.

Source: VW

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The Passat GTE combines a 156 hp 1.4 liter TSI engine with a 115 hp electric motor and a 9.9 kWh lithium-ion battery.

Source: VW

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There is even a separate button under the driving modes for the furious propulsion with the full power of both hearts: If the GTE button is pressed, the Passat activates full power s…a 219 hp and 400 Newton meters.

Source: VW

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The Passat GTE reaches the 100 km / h mark in just under eight seconds. GTE is not an empty promise. The driver can feel that this car weighs 1.7 tons…nter the steering wheel not.

Source: VW

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In the mode between GTE and E, the gasoline engine can also recharge the battery – which is worthwhile, for example, if you want to drive fully electric again after a long journey at your destination.

Source: VW

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With fully charged batteries and a sensitive accelerator foot, the driver always moves the Passat GTE purely electrically – this is possible up to a speed of 130. In four hours, the battery is v…oll, at fast charging stations in 2.5 hours.

Source: VW

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A small downer, however, remains: the battery pack in the underbody swallows 180 liters of the cargo space. However, there are still up to 1780 liters in the Variant and 1152 liters… in the limousine.

Source: VW

One of the drivers of this development will probably be the successor to the ASX. The compact SUV is Mitsubishi‘s best-selling model in Germany after the small space star. The extravagantly styled Concept XR-PHEV II study at the Geneva Motor Show in March showed in which direction the appearance of the new could go.

Under the sheet metal of the successor, which will take off in 2016, there will be a plug-in hybrid drive that, according to the manufacturer, will emit less than 40 g / km of CO2. The ASX will continue to be built in Japan. The cooperation with Citroën and Peugeot, who sell the ASX in a slightly modified form under their own brands as C-Aircross and 4008, is expiring.

New chance even for the lancer

Next in the league is the off-road vehicle legend Pajero, which is to go on sale in 2017, also with the technology of the socket outlander PHEV. The model that won the Dakar Rally twelve times remains an all-wheel drive workhorse that will also be available again with a powerful diesel.

That’s how hefty the surcharges for hybrid cars are

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The business sedan BMW Active Hybrid 5 with 340 hp costs 65,400 euros. With an equally beefy 3.0-liter six-cylinder petrol engine (306 hp) and 8-speed automatic but without …electric drive partner there is the Munich from 55,050 euros.

Source: BMW

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As a cheaper alternative to the common so-called full hybrid drive, the mild hybrid has been the talk of the town lately. The cheaper 48-volt mild hybrid technology v…on Schaeffler and Continental are to go into series production at a European car manufacturer next year. The two suppliers have already demonstrated it in the "Gasoline Technology Car" (GTC), a converted Ford Focus. The standard consumption of the GTC fell by 17 percent compared to the comparable conventional version of the Ford – to 4.1 l / 100 km and just below 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

Source: Wolfgang Pester

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The manufacturer Kia is also working on the mild hybrid drive: At the Paris Motor Show, the Korean manufacturer presented the Kia Optima T-Hybrid study with a corresponding drive, de…r will make future models of the brand more economical and environmentally friendly.

Source: dpa-tmn

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The Volkswagen Group is currently fully on the socket: the Audi A3 1.4 TFSI Sportback e-tron with 204 PS is a plug-in hybrid that charges from the socket and costs from 37,900 euros…. As a 1.4 TFSI Sportback with a petrol engine (150 PS), its base price is 28,090 euros. Is cheaper…

Source: Audi

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… the sister model VW Golf. As a GTE plug-in hybrid with a 1.4 TSI petrol engine (150 PS), the compact also receives drive support from a 54 kW electric machine. Base p…rice: 36,900 euros. For the Golf with the same power output solo drive in the Lounge version, however, 27,925 euros have to be paid.

Source: Volkswagen

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At Mercedes, the plug-in hybrid drive is moving into the middle class. With a starting price of 50,961 euros, the C 350 e is almost 4,000 euros more expensive than the normal hybrid model. …The station wagon is available from 52,627 euros. In both body versions, a combination of a four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor provides propulsion. The system output is 279 hp, the purely electric range is 31 kilometers. The manufacturer specifies a consumption of 2.1 liters per 100 kilometers.

Source: Daimler

The Outlander will also receive a major overhaul – later this year. Mitsubishi is even talking about a new generation. The chassis and drive train are improved and fuel consumption is reduced.

The L200 pick-up from Thailand will also be launched in 2015 in a new outfit. Mitsubishi is taking the single cabin out of its range; the double cabin and sports cabin will be continued. The Japanese are also leaving the Lancer model (notchback and hatchback) in their portfolio, although sales figures in Europe are at a low level.

Steep curve, but overall low market share

Only the fate of the potent Lancer Evo all-wheel-drive sedan, which is being withdrawn from the sales program, is sealed. The next generation of the Lancer can be expected in 2018/2019 at the earliest. But Mitsubishi will still have a hard time with it in the segment, the competition among compacts is strong.

In Germany, the takeover of Mitsubishi Motors Deutschland GmbH by the Emil Frey Group a year ago and the associated restructuring to the German sales company MMD Automobile GmbH apparently also had a positive effect.

This BMW emits nothing but water vapor

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The BMW engineers initially implemented the fuel cell in an i8. The first prototype with road approval and the corresponding drive is …

Source: BMW

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… the BMW 5 Series GT, which the manufacturer has now presented to the public. The car stores its fuel in …

Source: BMW

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… a tunnel tank that is over two meters long and holds frozen hydrogen gas for a range of over 500 kilometers. This means that the car can go much further than most… conventional electric cars that get their electricity not from a fuel cell but from a battery. Refilling too …

Source: BMW

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… from hydrogen takes much less long than recharging e-cars at the socket, which often takes hours: namely only five minutes. Only W escapes from the exhaust while driving…water vapor, there are no more harmful emissions. However, a new problem arises because …

Source: BMW

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… So far there are hardly any hydrogen filling stations. To reload the 5 Series GT, BMW had brought a tanker truck. Many manufacturers wait with the market launch until there is more Zapf…pillars exist, including BMW. On the other hand, there is no need for refueling facilities when there are no cars on the road. A classic chicken and egg problem. Nonetheless, the industry plans to expand the pathetic infrastructure.

Source: BMW

At least Mitsubishi has been writing increasing sales in its books since then, last year it was 14 percent more than in 2013. The first quarter of 2015 also looks promising. Almost 7,500 new registrations mean an increase of 57 percent.

Mitsubishi had a market share of 0.8 percent in Germany in 2014. The goal for this year is 1.0 percent. And the plug-in cars will have their part in it.

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