Flirt with the French
It’s hard not to laugh when you see the ‘new’ Mitsubishi ASX, which after all makes very little effort to hide the fact that it is a Renault Captur. How low this model has sunk only becomes clear when we look back at the previous relationship the ASX had with French brands. Other brands, but above all a completely different understanding.
At Mitsubishi they themselves don’t seem completely satisfied with the current state of affairs. After all, the new ASX is referred to by the brand as an ‘interim solution’, which should keep the place of the ASX warm until a more definitive solution is ready. The extent to which Mitsubishi has lost its relatively good position in the European market until recently is quite remarkable. The new Outlander, for example, is not yet coming to Europe and the complete range consists of the Eclipse Cross and the Space Star separately from the Renault clone. The only achievement that the Japanese brand can now boast of is that the latter can call itself the cheapest new car in the Netherlands.
Renault Captur
Mitsubishi ASX
The Mitsubishi ASX in the Netherlands has never been able to stand in the shadow of the Outlander, helped by addition standards, but it has also found about 13,000 buyers here over the years. Not surprising, because with the ASX, Mitsubishi was there in time in this segment in 2010. This is in complete contrast to the French brands, who apparently thought that the whole SUV thing would blow over again.
When that turned out not to be the case, a solution had to be found in France as a matter of urgency. Renault was more or less lucky and was able to get rid of the Koleos at the Korean subsidiary Renault Samsung Motors, although it was certainly not a resounding success.
At PSA, as the interplay between Peugeot and Citroën was still called at the time, the answer to the pressing SUV question was less obvious. In order to make as little effort as possible – and to have an SUV as quickly as possible – they turned to Mitsubishi. The second generation of the Outlander was therefore also available as Citroën C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007.
In 2012, the ASX was given a French makeover. At Peugeot, that car was transformed into a Peugeot 4008, Citroën called it Citroën C4 Aircross. Interestingly, these cars were presented at Peugeot and Citroën as successors to the Outlander-based models, while ASX and Outlander naturally existed side by side at Mitsubishi. Of the ASX clones, only the Citroën came to the Netherlands, but that car is also a rare appearance in this country.
Well, and then back to the present. Instead of a predecessor used as a starting point by European brands, the ASX itself is now a rush job based on a primal European product. It can be.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl