Mitsubishi is trying to reinvent itself with the debut of SUVs on Amazon

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Mitsubishi’s emailed invitation to Outlander’s debut featured an image of an oversized Amazon mailbox sitting at an entrance. The automaker did not announce any other plans to work with Amazon to market the Outlander or any of its other models.

As part of a larger effort to renew its lineup, Mitsubishi introduced a completely new version of one of its most popular models in the US. The new Outlander is slightly larger than before and has new designs of grilles, headlights and taillights that emphasize the added width of the SUV.

With traditional car shows and other live events canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, carmakers have been looking for ways to make a shock when they present their latest products. Various car manufacturers, included Ford (F), have introduced cars to Facebook. Honda (HMC) presented its redesigned Civic on Twitch, a social media platform for gamers.

Mitsubishi once had a strong performance-based brand identity and an enthusiast base, but that took a long time, said Akshay Anand, an automotive industry analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

“The 2021 Mitsubishi is not the 1995 Mitsubishi, when they had a little more behind the brand,” Anand said.

Partnering with Amazon, he said, could help attract the necessary attention to the brand’s important presentation.

Mitsubishi spokesman Jeremy Barnes pointed to the new Outlander and other redesigned and updated models as proof that the brand is spinning.

“We will have one of the most revamped showroom formations in the entire industry in the next two months,” he said.

Since 2016, Mitsubishi has been part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, a group in which each of the three vehicle manufacturers has a stake in others. Companies cooperate in the engineering of new models. The Outlander 2022 is the first Mitsubishi model designed and engineered in cooperation with the alliance.

The Mitsubishi Outlander 2022 comes with optional two-tone interiors.

The new SUV, which has three rows of seats, is wider and more spacious than the current Outlander SUV. Interior trim options will include two-tone leather treatments and diamond-stitched leather patterns. The Outlander has a 2.5-liter gasoline engine and a continuously variable automatic transmission designed to act as an eight-speed transmission under certain conditions.

The Outlander will be available in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions.

The new SUV will also feature a set of driver assistance technologies, which include active lane keeping assistance, traffic signal recognition, which can read speed limit signs and display them in the vehicle, and l ‘trailer stability assistance, which helps maintain control of the vehicle during towing. a trailer.

The 2022 Outlander will go on sale in April, with prices starting at $ 26,000.

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