Mitsubishi pops out a green Mirage

HERE’S a Mirage you won’t miss in traffic. Mitsubishi has introduced a special edition of its light-car staple called the Pop Green Plus Pack, which brings to the table a lurid new colour and a range of sporty add-ons.

The Plus Pack is based on the range-topping Mirage LS and adds styling touches including an air dam kit, as well as chrome flourishes on the front bumper, tailgate and fog lamp surrounds.

Only 400 units will be offered nationally, priced from $16,990 drive-away with the five-speed manual gearbox, $17,990 with the optional CVT automatic.

In manual guise, therefore, the Plus Pack retails for the same price as the standard LS, while the drive-away price for the CVT version is actually $1500 less than the $19,490 charged for the regular LS.

Standard features already available in the LS include higher quality interior materials than the lower-spec variants, climate control air conditioning, push-button start, automatic head-lights and wipers, Bluetooth phone and audio streaming and 15-inch alloy wheels.

As with other Mirage variants, the LS is powered by a frugal 57kW 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine that produces fuel economy of 4.6 litres per 100km with a manual gearbox and 4.9L/100km when matched with the CVT.

The Pop Green Mirage with Plus Pack is available from selected Mitsubishi dealers and is sold with the company's five-year, 150,000km new-car warranty.

Mitsubishi has made its presence felt in the light car segment by shifting 5535 Mirages since its launch in January this year.

While it trails the likes of Toyota's top-selling Yaris, the Mazda2, Hyundai i20 and Suzuki Swift on overall sales for the first six months of the year, it sold 1501 units last month for its best sales result so far, coming in second place behind the Yaris on 1564 units.

If Mirage sales continue at this pace, the tiny hatch looks like it could achieve the ambitious sales target of 1000 units per month set by Mitsubishi at the time of launch.

The Japanese car-maker is set to expand its light-car line-up by introducing the Attrage sedan – essentially a Mirage with a boot – in the first quarter of 2014.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited CEO Mutsuhiro Oshikiri said the addition of the new colour adds more variety and fun to the Mirage line-up.

“The Pop Green Mirage is a great small car that caters for those customers looking for a unique, fun colour option at an affordable price,” he said. “Combined with a five-star safety rating, excellent driver manoeuvrability and outstanding fuel economy, this really is the perfect small car with a difference.” Mitsubishi Mirage Pop Green drive-away pricing

LS with Plus Pack	$16,990
LS with Plus Pack (a)	$17,990