The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution bows out at the end of the year with no successor in sight

Bad news for lovers of Japanese cars. One of its greatest performance icons, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, will leave the roads at the end of the year, with a bleak future ahead.

It seems that the Japanese brand is giving serious thought to not continuing the series of this very special vehicle, so, should this become a reality, it would mark the final chapter of one of the most important sagas in the automotive world.

Several factors may have prompted such a “tragic” decision. The latest member of the series, the Evo X, did not achieve the sales the Japanese firm had hoped for, due, among other reasons, to weak demand in a segment that currently is not going through its best moment.

Looking back, the original Mitsubishi Lancer Evo hit the market in 1992, and was met with an excellent reception from the very beginning. Its success was such that it sold 154,000 units worldwide, 90,000 of them in its home country, Japan alone.

Successive evolutions and improvements followed, always competing with one of its greatest rivals, also Japanese, the Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Although Subaru already unveiled a new generation of its WRX STI just a few months ago, Mitsubishi has limited itself to launching a limited edition exclusively for the United Kingdom.

Named FQ-440 MR, this version delivers 440 CV from its already legendary 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. Further proof of the potential of a vehicle that Mitsubishi will probably keep in its drawers forever.

Source | leftlanenews.com