Both the Outlander Sport and Mirage hatchback were met with better-than-expected demand in North America, together representing more than half of the company’s US sales so far in 2014.
SUVs will remain a top priority for 2015, with a plug-in Outlander scheduled to arrive late in the year or early in 2016. The seven-passenger crossover will likely be sold alongside the Pajero, known as the Montero in the US before it was pulled from the market nearly a decade ago.
“We are putting our emphasis on SUVs in the United States,” Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko told Automotive News in a recent interview. “So we have to think about introducing the next-generation Pajero to the United States. There’s going to be a PHEV version.”
The company is also considering a sedan version of the Mirage, known as the Mirage G4 or Attrage in other markets. Masuko suggests a midsize sedan is also under consideration.
The Japanese automaker expects to make a modest $26 million profit in the US for the current fiscal year, following years in the red.
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