VIDEO: Mitsubishi Colt Flies 100 Feet Into the Air, Lands on Building Rooftop!

This is one of those stories that has you scratching your head in bafflement and asking yourself 'how the heck did this happen?'. Not that all of your questions will be answered, but according to reports from the German media, the 23-year-old driver of the late 1980's Mitsubishi Colt (also known as the Mirage in certain markets) lost control of the car in the Bavarian town of Stadtprozelten and somehow used a nearby railroad embankment as a jumping platform to literally fly almost 100 feet (about 30m) into the air landing on the rooftop of a building!

According to the German police, the driver that suffered serious injuries from the accident was under the influence of alcohol. And while that may explain how he lost control of the vehicle, we're still puzzled to as how he actually managed to fly onto the rooftop.

Shanghai Clone Wars: Landwind X8 vs Mitsubishi Outlander

There are clones and there are clones. While some come pretty close such as Lifan Motors' effort to give birth to a five-door MINI Cooper, other like Jiangling Motors's Landwind X8 that made its debut at the Shanghai Show this week, is a dead ringer for Mitsubishi's Outlander. For those of you with a weak memory, China's Landwind became known for being the first Chinese automaker to enter the European market with the SUV that spectacularly failed a crash test carried out by the ADAC, Germany's largest auto club.

And it's not only the exterior design of the Outlander that has been copied, it's also the interior as the X8 gets the same exact dashboard styling with the deep set instrument panel featuring the two circular tube-like structures.

But you still haven't heard the best part of the story; according to the Landwind, the X8 will be offered with two engines: a common-rail turbo diesel from Italy's VM Motori that develops 140HP and 350Nm of torque and -get this- a Mitshubishi sourced, 2.4-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine with 150HP!

Sales of the Landwind X8 are to start in China during the second half of the year.

Mitsubishi Outlander SUV

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Landwind X8 SUV

Southeast Motor to Unveil V3 Lingyue in Shanghai

One of the lesser -if at all- known Chinese automakers, Southeast Motor, has announced that it will reveal the V3 Lingyue hatchback at 2009 Shanghai auto show next week. Like the sedan variant of the V3 Lingyue that was introduced in China in late 2008, the hatchback model is based on a platform of a previous generation Mitsubishi Lancer with power provided by a 1.5-liter MIVEC four-cylinder engine that was fine-tuned for the Chinese market by the firm's partner, Mitsubishi Motors.

Mitsubishi says yes to U.S. market launch of all-electric i MiEV RWD microcar

Ending the speculative rumors that had been circulating for quite a while now, Mitsubishi officially confirmed at its New York Auto Show press conference that the fully-electric i MiEV microcar will be arriving on U.S. shores. The pure electric, four-passenger i MiEV is scheduled to go on sale in Japan this July with Europe following suit in 2010 and the U.S. shortly after that. The tiny i MiEV, which is slightly smaller than a Fiat 500 measuring 3.395mm or 133.6-in. in length, is based on the Japanese market, rear-engined 'i' minicar.

The electric version replaces the i's conventional gasoline engine, transmission and fuel tank with a lithium-ion battery system, electric motor and onboard charging system. However, it retains the standard i's rear mid-ship architecture which allowed Mitsubishi to integrate the new components under the seats, luggage compartment and floor deck.

The i MiEV's battery pack can be charged either from an 110v outlet - which takes around 12 to 14 hours - or half that time on a 220v. Additionally, there is a fast charge connector that allows the battery to reach 80 percent of capacity in just 30 minutes.

We're not aware of the exact specifications of the U.S. market model, but it is most likely that the vehicle will undergo certain changes to 'fit' (feel free to share your thoughts on this one...) the needs of the American market.

Mitsubishi announces Outlander GT Prototype for New York Show

One blurry image and two teaser shots of the crossover's front end along with some initial details is all that Mitsubishi is willing to reveal on the Outlander GT Prototype that will make its world debut at the New York Auto Show on April 9, 2009. From the look of it, the compact CUV could be a sportier Outlander with a face transplant from the Lancer EVO that includes the so called "Jet Fighter" grille.

Mitsubishi said that the GT Prototype showcases a host of new technologies like the Idle Neutral Logic that automatically shifts the transmission into neutral during vehicle standstill, improved performance and fuel economy from its more powerful 3.0-liter SOHC MIVEC V6 engine, and a Super-All-Wheel-Control System.

For more details we'll have wait until next week's official unveiling.

Mitsubishi Planning to Move European Sales Operations to Japan

Hit by falling car sales across the continent, Mitsubishi's European operations have been struggling to keep afloat. But it appears that time is up for Mitsubishi Motors Europe B.V. (MME) as the company has decided to take over and repatriate to its Japanese corporate headquarters all vehicle-related functions including Sales, Marketing, Product Management and Business Planning operations, coordinating them directly with MME's 34 European distributors.

This decision will translate into a reduction of 45% of today's white-collar headcount at the firm's European Sales and Marketing department while the company will also close its regional headquarters in Schiphol-Rijk, near Amsterdam, Holland moving all operations to its European Parts Distribution Centre located in Born, near Maastricht.

Mitsubishi said that these changes would not affect in any way it European vehicle production factory, NedCar in Holland. Mitsubishi's European sales were down 18% between CY2007 and CY2008 (from 200, 045 units to 164,462 units) with a further decrease expected for CY2009, in line with forecasts for the industry in the region.

Video: Nissan GT-R R35 Crashes after being Smoked by a Lancer EVO IX

In what could very well be the first-ever Nissan GT-R R35 crash documented on tape, a 'poor' GT-R owner loses control of his car after racing against a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX MR on a twisty mountain road at night. As you can see in the video after the jump, the GT-R pilot didn't seem to be much of a match for the EVO driver -even though for apparent reasons, it's an easier task to keep up with a car in front than to be leading the chase/race. Follow the jump to watch the video.

Via: Jalopnik

Geneva Show: Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport Air Concept

Based on the mid-engined, rear-wheel drive electric version of the i MiEV tiny city car, Mitsubishi's Sport Air Concept is a further development of the homonymous 2007 Tokyo Auto Salon show car. The i MiEV Sport Air uses a more powerful version of Mitsubishi's permanent magnet synchronous electric motor generating 60 kW or 80HP of power (vs. the i MiEV's 47 kW or 63HP) and 230 Nm of torque (180 Nm.)