There’s something poetic about Mitsubishi calling its best selling vehicle the Outlander. The name carries echoes of exploration and loneliness — adventures and isolation. You could say those terms add up to summarize the atmosphere around Mitsubishi in the U.S. market.
Mitsubishi is struggling around here. That’s not a big scoop. It’s been the case for a few years now. While Toyota and Honda flourish and Mazda continually wins international awards, Mitsubishi struggles to make a consistent blip on the automotive radar.
The aggressive growth of the Korean rivals Hyundai and Kia only exacerbated Mitsu’s problems. There are recurring rumors of the car builder perhaps teaming up with a rival to stabilize its footing. You’ll also see ugly predictions that Mitsubishi might stop selling cars in America altogether.
There are various reasons and analyses as to why the company is struggling and how the situation got to this point. Most of those explanations generally fall back on the recession of 2008. All of the automakers got knocked down eight or so years ago. Mitsubishi just got up a little slower, and it’s been racing to catch up ever since.
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That brings us back to this 2016 Outlander Sport. All of those ugly economic and practical challenges facing Mitsubishi make this vehicle tremendously important to the automaker’s recovery and future. The crossover class is the hottest-selling and fastest-growing segment of the automotive industry, so there is money ready to be made if Mitsu can provide consumers a good option.
After a weeklong test drive of the new Outlander, this reporter would declare phase one of that challenge accomplished. Now, time will tell if the crossover will live up to its name — striking out bravely on its own to explore and carve out new sales.
The new Outlander is entirely redesigned and includes more than 100 additional features and improvements. As for the basics, it has a 2 liter, inline four cylinder engine that produces 148 horsepower and MPG numbers of 23 city and 29 highway.
None of those numbers might be enough to blow your skirt up, but — with solid build quality and a starting price tag set just under $23,000 — the overall package is in line with the competition. Mitsubishi also looks to maximize interior features with power everything, heated seats, AM/FM/CD/Satellite and a competitive infotainment system. For an extra $3000 or so, the GT trim level adds shift on the fly four-wheel drive, upgraded wheels and interior enhancements.
The overall drive experience is also on par with its rivals. For urban use, the Outlander is a five-passenger vehicle with adequate cargo space and the capability to move through traffic in comfort with acceptable power and handling. That’s what you should be looking for around the $25,000 price point.
The 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander is a good, affordable little crossover. With a price point set accurately for general consumers, it deserves to be considered by buyers shopping around in this highly competitive automotive class alongside anything offered by Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, or Kia.
So, now that a good vehicle is built and waiting, it falls to the minds behind Mitsubishi to get the word out and draw some attention. If the automaker can do that, it will survive on the backs of solid vehicles like this Outlander.
