Mitsubishi Outlander Diesel India bound in 2014

Japanese automaker Mitsubishi, along with its Indian joint venture partner, Hindustan Motors, has made no bones about the fact that it wants to focus only on SUVs in the Indian car market. This explains Mitsubishi's decision to cull the likes of the Lancer, Cedia and Evolution-X sedans from its Indian portfolio, to be left with the likes of the Pajero Sport and the Montero SUVs. During this model rejig, SUVs such as the Pajero SFX and the Outlander were also discontinued.

While the production of the Pajero SFX was stopped due to fears of the SUV cannibalizing sales of the newly launched Pajero Sport, the Outlander's poor sales, owing to the crossover being a petrol-only model, resulted in its discontinuation from the Indian market. A new announcement from Mr. P. Vijayan, the Chief Operating Officer at Hindustan Motors, has revealed that the car maker will launch the diesel powered Outlander crossover in early-2014. 

The Outlander that was discontinued from the Indian market earlier this year was the second generation model, even as Mitsubishi has already begun selling the third generation model of this crossover globally. First unveiled at last year's Geneva Motor Show, the 3rd-gen model of the Outlander is a much bigger SUV, and comes in 5 seat and 7 seat versions. Also, petrol and turbo diesel engines are available on the new Outlander. 

The turbo diesel engined version of the 3rd-gen Outlander crossover is likely to be launched in India next year. This SUV features a 2.2 liter turbo diesel motor that outputs 147 Bhp of peak power and 380 Nm of peak torque. The engine comes with 6 speed manual and automatic gearbox options, and it remains to be seen which gearbox Mitsubishi India will bring to India. Also, the Outlander is available with both 2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive options. 

Apart from the additional space on offer due to its larger dimensions, the 2013 Outlander Diesel crossover is also said to bring a whole bunch of new features into the equation. This, as the Indian car market is witnessing contemporary products being launched with better features and creature comforts. A better feature set could make the crossover a more attractive to the well heeled Indian luxury SUV buyer.  

Mitsubishi and Hindustan Motors imported the discontinued version of the Outlander to India through the completely built unit (CBU) route.  This move resulted in the crossover being priced steeply. Therefore, CKD assembly could make the India-bound 3rd generation model more affordable. If assembled through CKD kits, expect the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Diesel to be built at Hindustan Motors's assembly unit at Tiruvallur, off Chennai. 

Source FinancialExpress