2017 will be a sad year for automotive enthusiasts the world over. One of Japan’s most iconic car names, the Mitsubishi Lancer will officially be discontinued this year. Launched originally in 1973 to fill the gap between the Minica Kei car and the larger Galant sedan, the Lancer was always marketed as a sporty compact sedan. Of course, the Lancer made it to India in 1998 alongside the Honda City and did become a really popular car with its fantastic driving dynamics.
Mitsubishi Lancer India
The Lancer has gone through several generations depending on which part of the world it was sold in but we here in India got two generations of the Lancer, namely the 1995-2000 generation original (that was sold till much later in India despite being discontinued globally) and the Cedia that was sold from 2006 to 2012. India also got just one version of the Evo in 2011, the Evo 10 or Evo X as it was commonly known but sales were poor as the car was priced at a premium and was already in the middle of its life cycle by then internationally.
Mitsubishi Evo X
The Lancer became popular in the enthusiasts circles due to the fact that it came with a phenomenal 4-cylinder turbo engine (in the Evo) and all-wheel-drive at an affordable price point (internationally). The engine also took modifications really well with stock internals and you would regularly find Lancers and Evos push over 500 bhp with ease. The Lancer also became popular with its use in several movies but in the Far East cinema circles and of course, in Hollywood. The Lancer was the star of movies like Thunderbolt that featured Jackie Chan as a race car driver and the Fast and Furious series where it was showcased in its Evo avatar in multiple movies.
But the Mitsubishi Lancer and Evolution really became the toast of the automotive world with its sheer domination of the world rally scene in the late 90s and early 2000s. In fact, Lancer Evos have dominated the world of rallying in the past and continue to do so even today in the hands of some skilled drivers.
2 Fast 2 Furious Lancer EVO driven by Paul Walker
Sadly, Mitsubishi’s focus shifts from being one of the coolest performance brands in the world to one that only makes pickup trucks and crossover/SUVs have killed the likes of the Galant in the past and now the Lancer. The very last set of Evos was made sometime last year and now the global headquarters have announced that Mitsubishi will soon discontinue the lancer all together. The announcement to discontinue the legendary sedan comes quick on the heels of a new crossover unveil announcement at the 2017 Geneva Auto Show. We do hope that Mitsubishi thinks about making a return to form with a new Lancer (and Evo) in the future to take on its biggest rival, the Subaru Imprezza.
