At the end of this year we'll be waving goodbye to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, but according to a new report its successor could well be a high-performance crossover. Speaking with Australian publication CarAdvice, Mitsubishi president Osamu Masuko revealed the next-gen Evo needs to be something car buyers really want, i.e. an SUV or crossover. "Gradually the definition of an SUV is changing," Masuko said.

"So I might anticipate that the borderline between Evolution and SUV might become more overarching." Mitsubishi is already focused on growing the brand with a range of new SUVs. The new Outlander Sport / ASX was recently previewed by the XR-PHEV concept. And it's this car's platform that will most likely be used as the basis of the hi-po SUV. There's no chance the new-gen Evolution could follow the form of the Mitsubishi 3000 GT, as according to Masuko there simply isn't a business case to do a sports car. Instead, a plug-in hybrid crossover will pick up the Evo's mantle.