Looking through Auto Trader the other day, alright then, everyday, MotorMartin was attempting to find a good value Outlander GX4h PHEV, preferably the cheapest in the Country. It’s nearly time for the mighty MotorMartin ’04 Focus to slip quietly into retirement and I do rather like the idea of commuting from MotorMartin Towers to the other side of Bradford whilst travelling on electrical juice only and plugging in at the end of the day. Indeed, MotorMartin’s time with the PHEV http://motormartin.com/2016/05/01/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-dont-stop-me-now/ was extremely enjoyable and showed the Outlander PHEV to be the first truly successful Hybrid.
And now, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has informed MotorMartin that they have achieved the significant landmark figure of 100,000 global sales of their outstanding Outlander since its launch in 2012. Meanwhile the UK is rapidly becoming the leading market in the world for Mitsubishi plug-ins.
Lance Bradley, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors UK, shared with MotorMartin recently that: “To reach this milestone is a fantastic achievement, which really underlines Outlander PHEV’s global appeal. Consumers in the UK have overwhelmingly made it their preferred choice for ultra-low emission motoring too. It is by far the nation’s leading plug-in vehicle.”
Clearly then, the UK is a hugely successful market for the Outlander PHEV. Singularly it now accounts for over 20 per cent of the vehicle’s global sales. In fact, such has been UK consumer demand and Government push for environmental transport solutions, one in every two cars now sold by Mitsubishi Motors UK is a plug-in.
Cumulative sales through FY15/16
UK (Launched 2014) 21,052
Rest of Europe (Launched 2013) 44,477
Japan (Launched 2012) 33,730
Australia (Launched 2013) 2,015
Other markets (Launched 2013) 259
Total global sales 101,533
In MotorMartin’s opinion, it’s not difficult to see why the Outlander PHEV is proving so popular. It has impressive fuel economy and ultra low emissions in a vehicle with the go anywhere ability of four wheel drive. It has a total hybrid range of 541 miles and a 32 mile zero emission range using battery power alone, which is more than enough to accommodate the average daily commute.
Mitsubishi correctly push the fact that, as well as its official fuel consumption figure of 156 miles per gallon, the Outlander PHEV’s low emissions of just 42g of CO2 per kilometre mean there’s no road tax to pay. It is exempt from the congestion charge and it qualifies for the Government’s £2,500 plug-in car grant. A fantastic engineering achievement.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a genuine alternative for those wanting to try something different in an attempt to save money at the pumps. And, potentially, solve a number of other issues as well. Mitsubishi need to be extremely proud of their achievement and continue to develop and push this technology so that economies of scale can make the benefits accessible to a much wider audience. A definite MotorMartin well done.
Where will you go?