Mitsubishi sees no way to bring back the Lancer Evolution

Mitsubishi Motors has no intentions to revive the Lancer Evolution model in the coming years, CEO Takao Kato said at a shareholders’ meeting held earlier this week.

The Evo could, in theory, be viable as a purely electric car, but the associated R&D costs would be devastating for the company, which closed its past fiscal year deep in the red. According to Kato, his main mission right now is to help his business recover first and foremost, and only then consider the whims of brand fans.

A month ago, the Japanese carmaker brought back the Ralliart sub-brand, which will be restricted to the domestic market for now. The Ralliart division had existed from 1984 through 2010, building sports cars, organizing races and the like. The revival of the name was what prompted many fans to speculate about the comeback of the Lancer Evo in the first place.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution started its career 1992 and retired in 2016. It has changed generations ten times, and invariably shipped with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to an AWD transmission. The Final Edition shown in the video came out in a run limited to 1,000 units.