A few months ago, we reported on news of Mitsubishi's in-house tuning division making a resurgence, but as excited as that news made us, the downside was that the Ralliart moniker would likely find its way to an SUV or some other sort of family car before we ever see a new Lancer Evolution. Still, this was to be expected because the last news we heard of Ralliart was back in 2017 when a Ralliart version of the Eclipse Cross was rumored. According to Japan's Best Car Web, the car that Mitsubishi was supposed to reveal at the canceled 2021 Tokyo Motor Show would be a Ralliart-tuned version of the Outlander PHEV.
Interestingly, this report also says that the hybrid crossover would be called the Outlander PHEV Evolution and would be aggressively styled with inspiration coming from rally-raid machines. And as we surmised in our earlier Ralliart report, it seems that the concept would be similar to the truck-like off-roaders we see in events like the Dakar Rally and the Baja races.
Still, despite the new Ralliart model's delayed unveiling thanks to Covid killing the aforementioned motor show this year, Best Car News says that it's still coming. A launch is said to be planned in Japan around June next year. Not much else is revealed, but supposedly Ralliart's revival could even include factory-backed motorsports participation, just like in the old days. Either way, a new Outlander is on the way, and we expect it to look much sexier.
Sadly, despite the clamoring of shareholders and fans alike, Mitsubishi says that it is still recovering from a deficit in the last financial year, and its focus for now is on developing electrified models for the foreseeable future. That being said, a statement from Mitsubishi Motors President Takao Kato does conclude with the words that the automaker will first revive the company "and then put out the cars that fans are waiting for." That means a Lancer Evo is not off the table altogether, and if the Evolution name is successful with the Outlander, we see no reason for Mitsubishi to deny its fans what they want most.