Mitsubishi’s product line-up is a SUV-centric one, save for sedans such as the Attrage (known as the Mirage G4 in certain markets) as well as the Lancer that continues to be in production in Taiwan and China. The Japanese brand’s sedan line-up could have had one more model, as design filings from 2009 with the Japan Trademark and Patent Office revealed, discovered by Auto Industriya.
These were for a Mitsubishi Galant
successor, where the sedan that would have been the nameplate’s tenth
generation is illustrated to wear a grille, headlights and crease lines similar
to those on the contemporary Lancer. This rather closely resembles the
Concept-ZT show car that was displayed at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.
Of course, the larger model has its
proportions stretched to suit, its profile view showing a sloping rear
windscreen that goes to a lower boot compared to that on the Lancer. Here, the
Galant rendering shows a rear bumper with dual integrated exhaust outlets,
while its license plate mount is higher up on the car’s bootlid compared to the
Lancer’s lower plate positioning on the rear bumper.
The decision not to proceed with the
Galant successor may have turned out to be a wise business decision as sales of
D-segment sedans have continued to lose ground to SUVs, Auto Industriya noted,
even if segment rivals such as the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Teana and
the like continue to soldier on in the marketplace.
At the time, the ninth-generation Galant
in US market guise was offered with a 2.4 litre MIVEC inline-four cylinder
engine producing 160 hp and paired with a four-speed automatic transmission, or
a 3.8 litre MIVEC V6 engine paired with a five-speed automatic gearbox. In show
car guise, the Concept-ZT from 2007 was specified with a 2.2 litre turbodiesel
producing 188 hp and 400 Nm of torque, and measured 4,950 mm long, 1,820 mm
wide and with a wheelbase of 2,815 mm.
