MR.MITSU, you claim to be in the know. From what I understand, Mitsubishi Japan is retooling their plants and getting ready for production of the Evo VIII. Does this mean we are getting the Evo VIII in North America too, or did Japan set aside ahead of time a number of Evo VIIs to be modified for the U.S. market? Or if we are getting the Evo VII, does this mean then Mitsubishi Japan is sending over the parts to be assembled in the States since they are getting ready for the Evo VIII production?

 

1.All car makers shut down for a period of two weeks to two + months for re tooling prior to a new model year. It is not an indication of any real big significance other that a model change. The US will recieve the EVO VII, it will include sheet Metal changes that mimic Euro Lancers (Larger fenders different trunk etc). I expect 04 or 03 Lacers to mimic the same syling cues.
2.Mits only has one assembly plant in the US- Bloomington IL. It is not set up to assemble lancers(eclipse, galant, eclipe convert) and the evo lancer volume under 4500-7000 units annualy would not be enough for them to invest in a big investment to change this line-not to mention the expense to slow it down to bring in another product.

3.The speculation of a certain Auto Mag that there will be a VIII is just that-speculation

So our evo 7 will still be built in Japan, pre production units should be seen testing in CA/AZ ?? i expect sometime this may/april/june? Showing up in dealerships after the 1st of JAN 03.
Remember we will still lag 1 year behind Japanese models. Speculation that we would recieve an VIII before the home market does would create quite a stir. I'm sure they are already working on an 8- I hope that next time they start from scratch! I would assume an eight is 4? years away!
make sense?
.

 

Makes sence. Thanks.

 

It has occured to me that some of us have never visited heart-beat motors This is press release information from Mitsu for maximum press impact of the EUROPEAN version of the EVO VI. Our US version will differ from this a few ways - of course crash standards and the dreaded emissions crap.

I tryed to directly download the pdf- it was too big - sorry for the link.
A word of caution, use the lavatory prior to reading this one you will be rivited to your computer for a long time!
To those of you who have seen this- my aplogies for redundancy.

Imagine this parked in your driveway!!- no I mean mine!


[URL=http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/PDF-E/evo7.pdf]

 

Fixed the link for you

http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/PDF-E/evo7.pdf

 

Release dates in Japan of Lan Evo series:

Evolution I: October 1992
Evo II: January 1994
Evo III: February 1995
Evo IV: August 1996
Evo V: January 1998
Evo VI: January 1999
Evo VI TME: January 2000
Evo VII: January 2001
Evo VII GT-A: January 2002

If this trend were to continue then we should expect the Evo 8 to be released in Japan in January 2003, which is also the date that Mitsubishi Motors Sales of America shows on their display at the auto shows. In their press releases, Mitsubishi just says Spring 2003. You'll also notice that in their press releases, they say we will get a version of the Lancer Evolution (note WITHOUT a roman numeral).


Thus my educated theory is:

The Lancer Evolution 8 will debut in Japan in January 2003. It will have been designed with the global market in mind (i.e. emissions, safety, crash testing, etc.) US dealerships will start receiving some of the cars in Spring 2003. The US version will be nearly identical to the Japanese model, and for that matter, the rest of world's models too. The Lancer Evolution 8 will serve as a halo car for Mitsubishi world wide.

 

I don't know if it will happen like that or not, but it would make the world a better place to live in.

 

I really like you thinking RaX, I HOPE it comes true!!!



to and be

 

I wouldn't expect an evo 8 for a long time. Since Mitsu changed to the 7, they no longer need to make updates to homologate the car for rallying, as they now adhere to the wrc format of car, rather than group A.
I was hoping to buy one, but I'll probably be too old by the time it gets here. Their marketing department really needs to get it's act together, and meet trends rather than following them.............

 

That is true, but still needs to "Evolve" the street Evo to stay competitive with the little bug eyed car from Subaru, not to mention the forthcoming Focus Cosworth or what ever it will be called.