New Lancer on the boil

THE Mitsubishi Lancer sedan will go on sale in Australia just weeks after it is unveiled in Europe.

Mitsubishi Europe will present the production version of its all-important small car at the Frankfurt motor show this September.

The biggest-selling car in the local Mitsubishi line-up, the Lancer will be launched at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney in the second week of October.

The Lancer sedan to be shown in Germany looks the same as the Australian model, but the cars are very different when it comes to what lies in the engine bay.

Mitsubishi last week confirmed European Lancer models will be available with three different engines at launch.

Petrol engines include an 81kW 1.5-litre four-cylinder and a 103kW 1.8-litre four-cylinder.

A Volkswagen-sourced 106kW 2.0-litre diesel engine will also be sold in Europe.

Australian Lancers get none of these three engines.

Mitsubishi Australia told GoAuto that local versions of the Lancer will be powered by a 2.0-litre MIVEC four-cylinder engine.

Spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher said the new engine would represent an improvement over the 115kW 2.4-litre MIVEC engine that powers the current Lancer range.

“The new engine will offer comparable performance to the existing 2.4, but it is expected to offer better fuel economy figures,” she said.

“The diesel is not available to us. It is something we would consider in the future if it was indeed made available.”

The standard Lancer (Left) sedan will be joined by a 2.0-litre turbo Evo model in the first half of next year.

That car would compete against the red-hot Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Currently Mitsubishi has no rival for the slightly less potent WRX model, but that will soon change.

Mitsubishi Australia is working on a plan to have a sporty Lancer that would rival the WRX before October 2008.

It would be all-wheel-drive and run a turbo engine, but would not be as powerful as the Evo variant and would run a less advanced AWD system.

Initially, Mitsubishi Australia had planned to source the new sporty Lancer straight from the factory in Japan, but that may no longer be the case.

GoAuto now believes the company may have to do some of the enhancement work here in Australia with its Ralliart operation.

Happy to talk about the rest of the Lancer range, Mitsubishi Australia is silent when it comes to the new WRX rival, except to confirm that it is coming.

A five-door Lancer hatchback, which Mitsubishi said has a coupe-like profile, will go on sale in Europe in 2008 and will arrive here at some stage next year.

The existing Lancer, now in run-out mode, is Mitsubishi’s best-selling model in Australia with a monthly average of 1452 compared to the 380’s average of 928.

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First look: Mitsu reveals all-new Lancer sedan