Mitsubishi has all
but completely given up on passenger cars, focusing instead almost exclusively
on crossovers. In fact only the budget-oriented Mirage remains the only
“conventional” car in a US lineup otherwise made up of crossovers like the
Outlander, Outlander Sport, and Eclipse Cross. But what if it got back into the
sedan market?
What if it revived, say, the Galant? Then it might
look a little something like this. Sent to us by budding designer Enoch Gabriel
Gonzales and shared via Behance, these renderings speculate on a 2020
Mitsubishi Galant, adapting the Japanese automaker’s latest styling cues to the
traditional four-door sedan form.
The Gallant was a mainstay of Mitsubishi’s
lineup for 1969 through 2012, evolving along the way from a compact sedan (and
coupe, hatchback, and wagon) into a mid-size one through a progression of nine
generations. Mitsu sold nearly 100,000 of them in 2002, but by 2009, the
Galant’s annual US sales had dwindled to less than 12,000… and never really
recovered. No wonder it pulled the plug just a few years later.
It’s been much the same with other mid-size economy
sedans. And that doesn’t look like it’ll change in the near future. Not as long
as crossovers keep handling more and more like conventional automobiles, while
offering greater space, capability, and all-around appeal – to most customers,
it seems, at any rate.
But if it did change in the next couple of years,
Mitsubishi and its new allies at Renault and Nissan would be wise to revive the
Gallant. And the resulting sedan would probably look pretty close to this one
right here.
