Death of a Legend: Mitsubishi Evo X
Death of a Legend: Mitsubishi Evo X
By Josh Wittenburg
For years, the Evo platform has been a proud competitor with high performance vehicles. Amongst all the cars hype, came the announcement in 2014 from Mitsubishi that 2016 (production stopped in 2015) would be the demise of the legendary street machine. For some this was just a prolonged ending to a car that needed to be killed off years prior, and for others it came as a slight shock, and myself being one of those people. The Evo was the car that Paul Walker made famous in Fast and Furious, an iconic automobile that struck attention the minute it rolled by, the Evo X was no exception, following the path of the Evo, it was initially a majority favorite from its release in 2007.
With a price tag of about $38,000, the general populace was not in favor of choosing the Evo over popular competitors such as the Subaru Sti. For many, the end was well expected, due to the innovation slump that the Evo found itself in, and for a little less than a decade since its introducing, barely anything has been altered...at all. The same stock 5 speed manual gearbox used for most generations, is a major turnoff to many, and it’s ability to compete with technology found in modern cars today sets the Evo back majorly. Nothing pushes the Evo apart from its counterparts any longer, and for the majority of consumers, and due to the large price tag of the Evo X, it can be clear as to why this car failed in sales for its final years.
The number of these cars sold each year though, has been considerably low, in terms of being purchased through dealers, reaching a few thousand per year in the states. The used market on the other hand has thrived with Evo X’s for many years, but in looking at the purchasing of the model brand new, Mitsubishi hasn’t flourished with the production of this car, especially since just 1,600 2015 models were made to finish off the series, in the United States. So this begs the question; why would Mitsubishi continue making these cars over the years, and not make any alterations, if dealer sales were not doing well at all? The answer is uncertain, but possible in consideration that Mitsubishi has been moving to more subcompact cars and utilitarian vehicles, this being further backed by the fact that the company has not announced a following to the death of the Evo X.
There is yet another side to play in the argument that could be offered in that if Mitsubishi were to develop overall newer and better models each year, they could’ve kept the Evo X line alive, and flourishing as it did in its initial release years. By using the same platform as the prior year, with very little changes, Mitsubishi really managed to limit their own potential, also by adding a hefty price tag. Consumers were no longer interested in a brand new model, when in reality, a few models older was all too similar to bother spending the extra money. It’s upsetting to see such a poor decision in ending the car, but at the same time, a bittersweet one that makes sense in the eyes of the consumer. I personally think that had the company pushed in new technology and made more drastic improvements and tweaks to the car, to keep up with modern day competitors, the scenario would have played out far differently, and in good terms towards Mitsubishi. The loss of money over the years of creating these street monsters was not the expectation looking back to its initial unveiling, and from an economic standpoint is costing them the future of a great platform, and customer base, who no longer have a reason to support the company.
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