Mitsubishi is selling cars in Europe, currently, the Eclipse Cross PHEV is their top-seller. Unfortunately, it was too small for us, so we had to import a PHEV from Canada. There's no reason not to release the Outlander PHEV here, the previous generation was a huge hit.
I agree. I don't understand their decision not to sell in the UK. The Outlander PHEV has the optimum combination of features, performance, and price as far as we are concerned.
Well, I was told more than a year ago, that Mitsubishi will be selling the Outlander PHEV in 2024 in Europe, so I'm still waiting.
I think they just came to the conclusion that changes to taxation status and other rules in the pipeline would just be too much trouble. We've just bought a new car and I researched the options. The Outlander with its short EV range has lost most of the advantages that it used to have. When we bought ours ten years ago, it was Congestion Charge exempt, Road Tax was zero, Company Car penalty was very low and the taxation status as far as the company was concerned was very favorable. Most of that is gone, or is in the process of going. Mitsubishi is coming under a lot of criticism for battery degradation - so they reprogram the battery management and get criticised instead because the engine starts more frequently. If I were a Mitsubishi marketing executive, I would be asking myself if the time were approaching when the car would become more trouble than it is worth on the production line.
I'm told the reason Mitsubishi quit Europe is upcoming emissions regulations (I don't have more detail!) - my Outlander PHEV was a company car, new in early 2016, zero road tax, London congestion charge exempt (with a £10/year fee) and around 5% company BIK (meant it cost me £100/month, the outgoing BMW320 was costing £400) - you see the attraction . . . its no longer a company car, heaven only knows what BIK would be on this/anything new - London congestion charge is only deleted for full electric cars - the zero road tax still exists (but almost anything else I might be interested in would cost £500 year !) . . . ps - can anyone tell me how to change the bulb above the charging socket please, there has to be a knack to accessing the damned thing ! . . .
Mine was also a company car - and we owned the company, so we also saw the benefits from the employer's point of view. We had a lot more flexibility in how we wrote off the cost against profits. The high depreciation on the car was also an advantage - given that we were both the drivers and owners of the company. After three years, we wrote the asset off the company books - something that would not have been possible for a petrol car that quickly - and sold it to ourselves at the We Buy Any Car valuation which was a massive depreciation. This was a great way to get money out of the company in a very tax efficient manner.
Mainland Europe yes - but apparently not the UK. I'll stick with my 2017 PHEV - owned from new, low mileage, and still very happy with it. But sad that Mitsubishi aren't coming back to the UK - yet.
There were a lot of Outlanders sold eight to ten years ago because the tax status was so attractive. That sales boom pushes up the numbers that you see on the road, but changes to the tax regime and other motoring costs like the London Congestion Charge have almost completely removed the financial benefits of ownership now. It would need a substantially longer EV range to become attractive again and I guess that Mitsubishi simply came to the conclusion that it was not worth putting in the development effort for a design that was beginning to look quite old...
the crucial factor to consider is extraordinary reliability of the 2015-2020 outlanders. my 2016 model was tested recently on the computer and the garage told me it was 100% mechanically perfect.
I must agree that ours needed no maintenance other than oil changes - and the almost obligatory drive-shaft coupling replacement that all 2014 models needed. But when we traded it in at ten years old and 100,000 miles, it did sound like a well used ten year old car. If Mitsubishi had not pulled out of Europe, I would probably have kept it another year or two, but I was becoming aware that the next significant mechanical failure or even a minor accident would probably take it off the road with workshop maintenance becoming extremely difficult to source. Independent workshops round here are very reluctant to touch any car with a high voltage battery inside.
I know its a long way to drive, Martin, but here in London we have EV trained KwikFits and Halfords due to the high numbers of EVs here.
According to Wikipedia they never made any money in Europe and their subsequent tie in with Renault & Nissan left them out of the UK post-Brexit. However, the matter is, no doubt, complicated by the exclusive selling arrangement in the UK with Colt Cars, which they might have wanted to get out of at least cost and bars them from re-introducing Mitsu badged cars to the UK market. Nothing to stop you bringing in a grey import like they do in Sri Lanka - if you don't mind the display being in Japanese!
If the car had been newer, I might have done that. As it was, I was in possession of a car approaching ten years old with 100,000 miles on the clock, beginning to sound quite elderly and look a bit tatty. I would not have wanted to keep it much longer under any circumstances and, with Mitsubish effectively disappearing, we decided to get rid of it while it still had some trade-in value. Those nice guys at Nissan gave us £6,000 for it in part-exchange value which satisfied me...I know its a long way to drive, Martin, but here in London we have EV trained KwikFits and Halfords due to the high numbers of EVs here.
