Mitsubishi "i" car coming to US market?
Mitsubishi has apparently been testing their new "i" car in Los Angeles but if they do decide to bring the Smart-like fouriseater to the US Market, it won't be for several years yet. Like most small Japanese cars, the current generation of the "i" is only engineered for right-hand drive. Converting a design to move the steering wheel from one side to the other is not a trivial matter and doing it on a car as small as the "i" is even harder. It appears that Mitsubishi may also be planning to make the car somewhat wider for the US market as well. The "i" is already on sale in several markets where they drive on the left hand side of the road (Singapore and Hong Kong with New Zealand coming soon), but it looks like we will have to wait four or five years.
[Source: Automotive News - subscription required]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
R G Elmendorf 12:21PM (2/29/2008)
I don't know why Mitsubishi would need to make the iCar "wider" for the US market, unless they want to miss the the coming minicar boom. Because of the low center of gravity and the present track width of the wheels, I think the car would be plenty stable as it is. Changing the car's width is a far more costly job than switching the driver's position from right to left. Mitsubishi just needs to get up its courage and get the car to the US. The iCar has a terrific future as a small-family car in my view.
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Dean Mignola 8:37AM (3/29/2008)
I just read that an electric version with an 80 mile range is being tested in the U.S. market. If they price it under $20K they can take my order right now.
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Anthony SEO 4:35PM (3/29/2008)
They need to release more of these cars into the USA. Atleast give dealers the ability to order them for customers that want them.
I'm driving a sedan at the moment, I would trade it for this car in a heartbeat. This is just what we need.
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Bill Pease 10:59AM (3/31/2008)
Just another example of the US being left out of the world market. Sell all the great enviromentally friendly cars to every country but the US. I'm almost to the point of saying ''screw it... i won't buy a decent fun economy car (which we have the choice of precious few) and buy a fricking Hummer.'' Seems to me that while automakers struggle to get us to buy the gas hog junk we have here, they fail to bring the cars we would buy to our country.
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steve harris 6:49AM (4/17/2008)
I bought an 'i-car' to save on fuel. I've driven about 200 miles and find I'm not saving much. Two website reviews say that the estimate miles per gallon of over 50 (UK gallons)is far too optimistic. Has anyone else found this to be true? With a small engine an automatic gearbox, is it in fact impossible to attain, say, a figure of even 45 MPG? There are big savings to be had in UK road tax an insurance. Any comments from other owners?
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robert 10:21AM (10/03/2007)
please can you tell me if the icar is comming to the uk market
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Donnie 4:15PM (3/10/2007)
I want one! The American need to get away from the the big cars. We need little cars like this to get us around town and maybe on trips. It just depends on how many people are traveling or they can keep a minivan for major trips.
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