So, here I am reading through automotive headlines for the day, ready to see what this week will bring, and what do I see? “A New Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Could Happen…” After making the most lady-like squeal to come out of a man’s mouth, I clicked on the link with more enthusiasm than Donald Trump has for complaining on Twitter. But, I was let down, because we’re not talking about the rally-bred, dirt-chewing Lancer EVO. No; Mitsubishi is probably going to ruin yet another name and make the next EVO a freaking SUV.

Well, that’s the word anyway, after Motoring had a little conversation with Mitsubishi Global Boss, Trevor Mann. Apparently, he has said that a new performance flagship is one of many considerations on the table, but that the performance concept won’t necessarily be based on a sedan… sigh. Given the nature of the automotive market and the fact that every automaker is too dumb to realize that SUVs will eventually fall off the radar once again, you know that means another SUV. We could have already seen a hint as to what the next “EVO” model will be thanks to the 2015 eX Concept.

SUVs Are Cool and All, but This is Ridiculous

Mitusbishi Lancer EVO

Mitsubishi EX Concept


I do tend to like SUVs. Hell, I even own one, but I’m also a fan of performance cars or cars with a specific purpose. And, boy do I miss the days when cars like the Mazda RX-7, Mitsubishi Eclipse, and Subaru WRX were the cars to have and desired by every tuner guy out there. Now, we have a bunch crap. There is no RX-7, which was killed off by the RX-8 three-door stupid car, the Eclipse is now a freaking SUV, and the WRX soldiers on all by its lonesome waiting for a car like the Lancer EVO to come back and give it a real challenge. Instead, Mitsubishi has decided to let the Lancer soldier on in lackluster looks and equipment for a decade just to be killed off in a way that no car with that kind of heritage should ever have to endure. Now, with the EVO program gone, Mitsubishi is talking about potentially bringing a new EVO to market and insinuating that it could be an SUV? When the hell did I end up in the twilight zone?

At this point, I’m ready for Mitsubishi to go bankrupt and die, and I'm kind of mad at Nissan for saving it, to begin with. Mitsubishi is always quick to point out its heritage, yet it has no real sense of what its heritage is. The next “EVO,” if that’s what you would really call it, is likely three to six years away, according to Mann. In that kind of time, you would think the troubled Japanese brand would be able to come up with something a little better than some stupid SUV with a repurposed name and an ugly face. I know that some of you are going to argue that Mitsubishi was struggling to sell its cars here in the U.S., but if you’ve driven anything the company has made in the last 10 years, you know why. All of its cars have been subpar compared to other offerings on the market, and that’s why the Lancer is on its way out the door now.

For those of you who don’t remember what the EVO was all about, here’s a little video that shows it and the WRX STI doing what they were meant to do. Good luck getting an EVO SUV to tear up a dirt track like this!

Read our full review on the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X here.