Confirmed! The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross will be the new rival of the Nissan Qashqai

The new SUV from Mitsubishi will be smaller than the Outlander and bigger than the ASX. Sales of the new crossover will start at the end of 2017 in Spain.

Mitsubishi has confirmed that the new rival of the Nissan Qashqai will be called Eclipse Cross. This mid-size SUV will be presented at the Geneva Motor Show and will be bigger than the Mitsubishi ASX but smaller than the Outlander. The Japanese brand intends to increase its sales by offering a complete range of SUV vehicles.

The name of the new crossover from the Japanese firm pays tribute to the brand’s successful sports car, the Mitsubishi Eclipse, which was sold between 1989 and 2012. This vehicle produced 1,400,000 units across its four generations, and yes, it is the same car with which Paul Walker debuted in the Fast and Furious franchise back in 2001. At first glance there do not seem to be great design similarities between the new SUV from Mitsubishi and the old sports car; allowing for the differences, one could say that the brake light running across the width of the Eclipse Cross was also present on some generations of the old Eclipse. However, the design of the new Japanese crossover does bear a reasonable resemblance to the current Mitsubishi Outlander, although with more rounded lines and an overall look more coupe-like than the brand’s current flagship.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is a good example of the aesthetic change the brand’s models have undergone since the hiring in 2014 of Tsunehiro Kunimoto (a designer for 40 years at Nissan). “Design is increasingly at the forefront of Mitsubishi’s planning,” the firm says. “It will take time before the changes arrive, and we will always have a certain utilitarian quality, but Land Rover has shown that it is possible to be robust and elegant at the same time. Our intention is to keep following that path.”

As for the mechanics of the new Mitsubishi SUV, it is expected to share the same petrol and diesel engines as the ASX range, as well as the same manual and automatic gearboxes. Everything points to the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross offering all-wheel-drive variants.

The new SUV from Mitsubishi will go on sale in Spain at the end of 2017.

Source: Newspress