Mitsubishi has revealed yet more photographic teasers of their compact SUV that’s due to be shown at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in early March, which should be in near-production form by the time it’s on display at the Swiss exhibition hall.
By naming it the Eclipse Cross, clearly they’ve dug into their repository and fished out a name from their past. ‘Eclipse’ was Mitsubishi’s sports coupe that lasted just over two decades in production, spread over three generations that were mostly targeted at North American customers. Enthusiasts, then, might cringe at the name being recycled for a crossover.
The Eclipse Cross will sit alongside Mitsubishi’s existing range of crossovers and SUVs, currently occupied by the ASX, Outlander, Pajero Sport, and Pajero, with a definite leaning to be sportier sibling. In terms of size, it looks to be comparable in size to the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage, also being very visually similar to the previous their XR-PHEV concept from 2015.
In Mitsubishi’s own words: “Marrying stylish coupe lines with the freedom of movement the SUV genre gives, the Eclipse Cross’ beautiful, dynamic form serves to bring about the same sense of excitement and inspiration as the diamond ring seen immediately before and after a total solar eclipse does. The high-saturation red body color newly developed for the model is also reflected in the name to evoke the brilliance of the prominence seen during the total solar eclipse.”
Nearly all recent vehicles shown from the Japanese automaker at motor shows have incorporated some kind of hybrid or fully electric drive system, but seeing as how the Eclipse Cross is presumably very close to becoming a showroom reality, it’s hard to say whether Mitsubishi will stick to their existing petrol and diesel engine line-up or bring in their PHEV tech to the crossover space in a broader way, building upon their experience with the Outlander PHEV.
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