Mitsubishi Will Offer 3000 GT Sports Model
In a bid to polish its image with American car buyers, Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America said Wednesday that it will introduce a limited-production luxury grand touring car next year.
The Mitsubishi 3000 GT, expected to debut at the Japanese auto maker’s 400 dealerships in August or September, 1990, will feature advanced automotive technology, including four-wheel steering.
Although Mitsubishi has not yet established a price, a company spokesman said the car should retail for $25,000 to $35,000 in the United States, which is intended as the 3000 GT’s primary market.
Only 8,000 to 10,000 cars a year will be produced at Mitsubishi plants in Japan, said company spokesman Kim Custer said.
“One of the main objectives of the car,” he explained, “will be to enhance the visibility and prestige of Mitsubishi and to symbolize the technology available in all of our cars. We certainly don’t intend to flood the market with them, though.’
The four-seat coupe will be equipped with a 3-liter, twin-turbocharged, 24-valve, V-6 engine coupled to all-wheel drive and electronically controlled suspension.
Perhaps the most exotic feature of the new Mitsubishi will be its four-wheel steering, a computer-assisted electronic system that enables the rear wheels to turn in the same direction--but at a lesser angle--as the front wheels at high speeds.
The result is increased stability, which Mitsubishi will probably market as a safety measure as well as a high-performance feature.
The 3000 GT’s major competitor is likely to be the forthcoming Dodge Stealth--produced for Dodge by Mitsubishi but equipped with slightly different front and rear-end styling and, most likely, with more options.
Chrysler Corp., which owns 24% of Mitsubishi, reportedly is contemplating a selling price for the Stealth that will be $4,000 to $5,000 higher than the Mitsubishi 3000 GT, according to Jesse Snyder, Los Angeles bureau chief for Automotive News.
Snyder suggested that Mitsubishi’s new GT would also compete with the Nissan 300 ZX, the Mazda RX-7 and the new Toyota Supra Turbo, which will be introduced about the same time.
“But on the Detroit side,” he said, “there is really not much out there because there are not a lot of real sports cars being produced.”
Mitsubishi, Snyder said, deliberately developed the 3000 GT as a specialty-niche car so that it would not have much competition. “That is the way you can introduce a car and make it successful while selling only 8,000 to 10,000 a year in a country where more than 10 million automobiles a year are sold,” he said.
