If you’re Mitsubishi and you’re looking for a way to attract more customers in the UK, going all out with your plug-in hybrid Outlander model sounds like a good way to start.

They’ve also went about it in a very clever way, with two versions, the GX5h and GX5hs, both featuring hand crafted leather seats, mood lighting, premium sound system and other goodies you’d expect to find on a premium SUV.

Both models can manage just 44g/km of CO2 which in the UK means you don’t have to pay any road tax, and the BIK (Benefit in Kind) rates are just 5% instead of 25%, as you’d pay for similar SUVs.

Clive Messenger, Head of Corporate Sales, Mitsubishi Motors UK said that the “GX5h and GX5hs plug-in hybrid Outlanders offer such a fantastic package of benefits for both companies and company car drivers – high specification, luxury feel, low running costs, strong environmental credentials. We are expecting it to quickly populate company car choice lists UK-wide.”

We have to admit, it’s not a bad purchase as a company car since most under 100g/km CO2 cars aren’t exactly spacious nor are they as respectable as an SUV – in case you’re worried about your company image.

On the inside, the GX5h and GX5hs feature Nappa leather seats, Porcelain beige/Claret red or Gunmetal grey dash, door and console lining, a 7 speaker 420W premium Alpine Hi-Fi system with silk done tweeters, powerful 16.5cm midrange drivers and 20cm subwoofers, front and rear mood lighting, LED interior lights, front and rear heated seats and twin rear USB charging port. Outside you’ll find integrated side steps, a rear spoiler, LED fog lamps and DRLs.

While this sounds like a very wise business decision as well as a good deal if you’re a buyer (private or corporate), just because the specs are a bit better doesn’t mean the Outlander shifts into the premium sector. Plus at £42,899 it’s quite expensive once you notice you could get a 4WD Lexus NX300h with the exact same specs for a lot less. Actually for precisely £10,000 less!

The top of the range Mitsubishi Outlander GX5hs will cost you £44,999 – which is just about as much as you’d spend on the Lexus RX 450h. Seriously now…

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