New Mitsubishi Evo to be high-performance hybrid SUV

Mitsubishi president Tetsuro Aikawa has revealed to our sister publication Autocar UK that the next generation of the Mitsubishi Evo will be a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV). In a statement to our sister publication he said, “In Japanese, when you pronounce ‘O’ in Evo, it means ‘king’. So we would like to launch this type of car, featuring EV and PHEV technology, which is the ultimate of its kind. ‘EV’ for electric vehicle and ‘O’ for king — Evo”.

This next-generation Evo is said to be based on the next-generation ASX crossover, a car previewed by the XR-PHEV II concept that was on display at the Geneva motor show 2015.

Aikawa also said that the model won't be out anytime soon, with the new ASX crossover only due in 2016. He stated that the company first needed to sell enough of the regular model to cover research and development costs before they could launch the new Evo.

The XR-PHEV II concept showcased at Geneva was powered by a 160bhp plug-in hybrid powertrain and featured front-wheel drive. On the other hand, the next-gen Evo would stick to its roots and be offered with four-wheel drive along with being lighter and more powerful than the standard model, according to company reports.