Mitsubishi's fast car is on idle
Mitsubishi Australia hopes for a decision on the supercharged TMR 380 by Easter.
Paul Gover
The future of the most radical homegrown Mitsubishi in a generation is hanging in the balance.
The supercharged TMR 380, built to star at last year's Sydney Motor Show, is almost ready for the road, but still needs the green light from Adelaide.
Mitsubishi Motors Australia is keen to push the TMR into production, but needs to ensure it can be certified and profitable before a final decision.
Budgets also need to be approved from Japan. And the 380 project needs to be integrated into a bigger strategic plan to give Mitsubishi a full-scale special vehicles division, bringing it up to speed against Ford, GM Holden and, from later this year, Toyota.
"We want to build the car. We are working on the plan to make it happen," Mitsubishi Motors Australia managing director Rob McEniry says.
"I would like to have a decision by Easter. Originally, I wanted to have an announcement at the Melbourne Motor Show in March but we've run into a few snags. I would still rate it as better than a 50:50 chance — no, much better than 50:50.
"That car, plus some other vehicles we would like to bring to the full range, adds an emotional value and an aspiration value to the brand. We've had that before, but only in very limited appeal with the Lancer Evo.
"There has been no opportunity for people to step back to another car at Mitsubishi. If you look at Ford or Holden, they have the HSV and FPV cars, but you can also step back to an XR Falcon or SS Commodore. We also need to have that ability."
The 380 show car was built by Team Mitsubishi Ralliart under the direction of rally team boss Alan Heaphy, with a Sprintex supercharged engine producing 230kW and a range of upgraded mechanical components, including the brakes taken from the Lancer Evo.
It also has a bodykit, vented bonnet and lowered suspension.
McEniry is aware of the overall need to move into special vehicles at Mitsubishi, not just a single car like the TMR 380.
"This is an important part of trying to change the perception of the brand. We don't want to be a grey-cardigan company," he says. "We need to appeal to more than just fleet buyers, which has been the traditional situation at Mitsubishi. I think today we need to appeal to youth.
"One of the reasons we brought out the Ralliart Colt and the Cabriolet was to appeal to a younger, broader and more emotionally based consumer group."
McEniry's special-vehicle plan is still being assessed and includes such basics as whether it will be run by an outside company or from inside MMAL in Adelaide.
But he is keen to get the TMR 380 moving and believes it should be in showrooms in the second half of the year.
"Because it is off-the-shelf parts and we've continued to refine and develop those parts, it will probably be ready by the third or fourth quarter this year," he says. "It's not a signed-off project yet, but our plan is to move towards approving it and getting it into production as soon as we can."
Herald-Sun
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