Mitsubishi Motors to unveil new European Colt at Geneva Motor Show

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation today announced it will unveil its new 5-door European Colt for the first time at the 74th Geneva International Motor Show on March 2.

The first compact (B-segment) car to be sold by MMC in Europe ever, the New Colt will be produced at the company's NedCar factory in Born, The Netherlands, and will go on sale from May.

Stylish, dynamic and boasting a very flexible and roomy interior, New Colt will be a non-mainstream car in a mainstream segment.

The Geneva Motor Show will run from March 2 to 14. Public days will start on March 4.

MMC will hold a press conference am on March 2 at the Mitsubishi Motors stand, located in Hall 6. A proposal for a 3-door coupe version of the New Colt, the Colt CZ3 concept car, will also make its world premiere in Geneva.

New Colt profile The European Colt is the result of MMC's alliance with DaimlerChrysler, which covers such areas as R&D, procurement, and production.

After 800,000 Colts sold in Europe since 1978, New Colt will allow Mitsubishi Motors to enter the B-segment - the second largest in Europe with 4.3 million units in 2002. The new model, which belongs to the same family as the Colt compact launched in Japan in November 2002, has been specifically developed and designed for European customers and driving conditions. It clearly distinguishes itself by the following features:

Designed at Mitsubishi Design Europe (MDE) in Trebur, Germany, New Colt will retain the well-received "One-Motion" design concept of the Japanese model. However, it will be visually distinguished by a more expressive front-end design. Lifted straight from the acclaimed 2001 CZ2 concept, it suits the sporty character of the car and of the brand.

New Colt will be powered by 1.1-liter, 1.3-liter and 1.5-liter MIVEC1 gasoline engines and by two 1.5-liter DOHC turbo-charged common-rail direct injection diesel engines. The MIVEC gasoline engines were jointly engineered by MMC and smart and will be manufactured at MDC Power GmbH, a 50/50 joint venture established by MMC and DaimlerChrysler in Koelleda, Thuringia, Germany. The diesels will be sourced from DaimlerChrysler's plant in Stuttgart-Untertuerkheim, Germany.

Both families of engines will be offered with either a manual gearbox or an innovative automated manual gearbox.

New Colt will offer sharp European dynamics, with fine-tuned suspension, brake and steering. Additionally, all models come with ABS2 and EBD2 systems as standard, as well as power steering. The Mitsubishi Active Stability Control (MASC) system will be optional, a rare feature in the segment, like the available 16" alloy wheels.

Passive safety will be guaranteed through the availability of driver & passenger airbags (standard), curtain airbags (availability according to the markets), and RISE3 interactive structure or innovative frame design.

New Colt will differ from the Japanese market Colt with an all new interior, designed at MDE. It includes a new dashboard with Italianate hooded meters and innovative "technical" graining, new bucket front seats, high grade upholstery, soft-touch covered trim panels, translucent accent parts for a soothing effect or the clever Multi-Box center console.

New Colt will also be one of the roomiest and most flexible cars in the segment with:

1,750 mm front and rear legroom, the longest in its class A 60/40 split rear seat that can be individually slid, reclined, folded, tumbled or easily removed altogether.

One of the 14 new cars MMC will launch in Europe by 2007, New Colt will deliver on the road what it promises in its design, like all Mitsubishis of the new generation (Grandis, Lancer Evolution VIII, Lancer Wagon Sport, and Outlander).

As such, it will mirror Mitsubishi Motors' new positioning in Europe, blending sharp dynamics, contemporary Japanese elegance, acknowledged Colt reliability and fine MMC engineering.

New Colt will be a milestone car launched during a milestone year for Mitsubishi Motors Europe B.V. (MME), as it just celebrated its first sales increase since 1998 (207,939 units).

2004 will also be the year of breakeven for MME, two years after the announcement of its Turnaround Plan and a year ahead of schedule. This represents a massive achievement for the totally reinvented MME and the first positive result for MMC in this region since it started its operations there exactly 30 years ago.

2004-01-26 Please quote Autoindex.org if You use this news article!