About face on 380

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About face on 380



Kevin Hepworth

Mitsubishi's 380 — the car that refuses to lie down — will score an interior refresh and a model rationalisation before the middle of the year.

"We are looking at the variants and the specifications of the model range," says Mitsubishi communications manager Lenore Fletcher. "What we are looking at is the most effective and efficient way to streamline the model line-up."

Mitsubishi has five 380 specification levels on sale — not counting the limited-edition Platinum model — three of which offer both manual and automatic gearboxes.

That is a model-rich mix for a car which in January sold 1041 units, an increase of 235 over the December sales and an improvement of almost 30 per cent over January last year.

Even with the improvement in numbers, the 380 is still selling at little over one third of the volume Mitsubishi had predicted for its most expensive Australian-developed model.

Fletcher says there will be some "minor" cosmetic changes to the overall look of the cars but the facelift will concentrate on the interiors and review of the specification levels.

Also under the microscope is the supercharged 380 TMR showcar, at least a variant of which is being seriously considered for a production future.

"An exciting performance variant of that type would be a great halo car for the 380 but of course it has to make economic sense," Fletcher says. "We are working through a few options and while nothing is confirmed it is certainly not off the radar."


The TMR, first shown at the Sydney motor show last year, is production-ready but needs to have a business plan approved by head office in Japan. Just as important, the 380 TMR project needs to be integrated into a bigger strategic plan to give Mitsubishi a full-scale special vehicles division, bringing it up to speed against Ford, GM Holden and, from later this year, Toyota.

The 380 TMR was built by Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, under the direction of rally team boss Alan Heaphy, with a Sprintex supercharged engine producing 230kW and a range of upgraded components, including brakes taken from the Lancer Evo and lowered suspension.

Why don't they just let the poor bugger die ???