Mitsubishi has verified it will soon revive its Ralliart high-performance division as well as return to the world of motorsport, in a short statement buried at the back of its 2020 monetary report.
The brand’s CEO, Takao Kato, provided a short summary of the revival, saying: “For clients who desire to experience our Mitsubishi-ness, we will introduce customized accessories for our design line-up in addition to re-entering motorsport events around the world.”
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We’re still uncertain of the precise details however we expect the brand might return to the Dakar rally with a specially customized version of one of its new SUVs or the L200 pick-up.
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As part of the revival, Mitsubishi will likewise introduce a new variety of Ralliart-branded add-ons for its road cars and truck line-up. aggressive body kits, larger spoilers, mudflaps, roofing system racks as well as decal sets might all make the choices list, although it stays to be seen whether there’ll be any type of performance additions.
Either way, the UK won’t get any type of of Mitsubishi’s new products. The Japanese business is standing firm on its decision to leave the British market, in spite of having just recently struck a offer with Renault which will see the French brand create two “sister vehicles” for Mitsubishi on European soil.
Mitsubishi’s Ralliart division was established in 1983 by Andrew Cowan under the short-term name “Andrew Cowan Motorsports.” It delighted in success in the late 80s with the Galant VR-4, however it wasn’t up until the late 90s that the tuning firm discovered its feet in the world Rally championship with its version of the Lancer Evolution.
During its time at the top, with Finn Tommi Mäkinen piloting its cars, Ralliart snapped up four consecutive world Rally championship titles with the Lancer development III, IV V as well as VI. The tuning firm has likewise declared 12 wins in the Dakar rally because 1982.
Mitsubishi stopped funding the tuning business in 2010, citing monetary pressures. By that time, the business had been out of the WRC for three years.
The revival of the Ralliart brand comes as Mitsubishi reports a loss of 312 billion yen (roughly £2 billion) for the 2020 monetary year.
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