The car that Mitsubishi believes will help it grow again and increase its sales on a global basis and especially in developing markets, the new Mirage, will join the brand’s range in the United States next year, but we already knew that.
What a report from Car and Driver adds is that the Japanese carmaker’s no-frills sub-compact will be revealed in U.S.-specification at the 2013 New York Auto Show in April, and that it will go on sale in September of the same year.
We still don’t know for sure if Mitsubishi will keep the same name for the U.S., but chances are it will.
The magazine also tells us that the Mirage will be the third model in the U.S. market to be offered with a three-cylinder petrol engine after the Smart Fortwo and the redesigned 2014 Ford Fiesta, putting an end to rumors that the company may offer the car with a larger four-cylinder unit.
The three-cylinder gasoline engine’s U.S. specifications remain unknown, but for the record, the European version of the Mirage is available in two displacements, a 1.0-liter version producing 70Hp and a 1.2-liter with 79Hp.
With these kind of performance numbers as well as a small footprint that places it between a Fiat 500 (3,546mm or 139.6-inches long) and a Ford Fiesta (3,950mm or 155.5-inches) at 3,710mm or 146-inches long, and a lackluster design, we find it hard to believe that the Mirage will be able to convince U.S. buyers, but we could be wrong…
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