According to the publication, the next-generation
Outlander will arrive in 2021 and be based on the same platform that underpins
the Nissan Rogue. The model will reportedly be longer and wider than its
predecessor and it will once again be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
About a year later, Mitsubishi will introduce a new
Outlander Sport. Mitsubishi Motors North American product manager, Melvyn
Bautista, has previously suggested the next-generation model will shrink in
size to help distance it from the new Eclipse Cross.
Mitsubishi hasn’t offered a pickup in the United
States since the Dodge Dakota-based Raider went out of production in 2009.
Dealers have been clamoring for a new truck and Mitsubishi Motors North America
COO Don Swearingen said “There are people in the Alliance looking at these
things.” While it doesn’t appear that a mid-sized pickup has been
green-lighted, it’s possible that Mitsubishi could receive a version of the
next-generation Nissan Frontier that will be built in Canton, Mississippi.
Mitsubishi is also planning to embrace
electrification and the company has plans for at least two new electric
vehicles. Nothing is official but speculation suggests one of them could be an
electric Outlander Sport or Eclipse Cross.
