No longer really very young, we were surprised to see that the Japanese was still in the catalog. Logically, she will soon take a well-deserved retirement.
Launched on our roads in 2013 but unveiled under the name Mirage two years earlier in Japan and therefore developed in the 2000s, the Mitsubishi Space Star will soon celebrate its 12th anniversary. A more than respectable age for a car. Especially when we know that the average business cycle is around 7 years.
Under these conditions, and above all knowing that the mini-city car does not respect the famous GSR II safety standard with equipment that is now essential to continue to be marketed since July 7 and of which it is nevertheless deprived (no warning of drowsiness for example), we were surprised to see it still appear in the catalog. There is an explanation for this.
Stocks to last until June 2025
While going to discover the new Outlander up close, which we will return to very soon, we had the opportunity to discuss the Space Star with the president of Mitsubishi Motors in France Pierre Guignot. He confirmed it to us, the mini-city car has not been updated.
“We are under the seal of the 10% exemption. We are in that quota.”
It is in fact possible to continue to sell a vehicle not equipped with the latest imposed technologies if its sales do not exceed a certain level. This is what allows, for example, the Alpine A110 to still be offered on our market.
In fact, “the stock we have left and what we have for sale will last until the end of June 2025”. If you want to get a good deal, run to the dealerships of the three diamond brand, it’s now or never. Which is good since vehicles accessible under €20,000 are becoming increasingly rare these days.
No question of a replacement… for the moment?
Will there be another Space Star? It’s much too early to tell. Already, the news will be busy next year with two new products in the C segment (medium cars) which will be two clones from Renault. Models which, insists Pierre Guignot, will have “an even more pronounced Mitsubishi identity” than the recent restyled ASX, twin of the Captur.
On the other hand, marketing city cars is anything but simple nowadays. Between the safety and anti-pollution standards to be respected et imposed electrificationsmall cars cost manufacturers too much and the segment is neglected.
How about a Mitsubishi Twingo?
But why not later after all? And not necessarily thermal? You may remember that in the early 2010s, Mitsubishi teamed up with the PSA group to launch a mini electric city car, the i-MiEV, equivalent to the Citroën C-Zero and Peugeot iOn. You certainly see where we are going with this. A few days ago, Nissan said it was considering producing a zero-emission mini-city car in collaboration with Renault. We could imagine the same thing for the other member of the alliance and see the arrival by 2026-2027 of an electric Twingo badged Mitsubishi. Without confirming it to us, Pierre Guignot has not completely closed the door to this possibility. To be continued, it goes without saying.
Swiss
