Mitsubishi Mirage to skip 2016; updated version to come for 2017

EDIT: We’ve updated this article with a few corrections courtesy of John Arnone of Mitsubishi Canada.

Car and Driver is reporting that the Mitsubishi Mirage, the pastel-coloured punching bag of the subcompact car segment, is skipping model year 2016 while Mitsu readies a revised version that will debut early next year as a 2017 model, according to John Arnone of Mitsubishi Canada. The car is not being discontinued as we had originally stated; instead, Mitsubishi is “extending the 2015 model year.”

The revision will apparently include a sedan like the Mirage G4 that Mitsu paraded around the Canadian auto show circuit, an exercise in gauging the public’s interest that we’d guess didn’t go so well, given that its maker never followed through with the idea.

Arnone corrected our assertion that the G4 sedan disappeared after appearing at Canadian auto shows in 2014. “We confirmed some time ago the Mirage G4 sedan will arrive in North America in 2016,” he said. “In Canada, our decision to add to the Mirage line-up was helped by consumer feedback of a prototype model showcased during the 2014 auto show season.”

Mitsubishi sold more than 4,000 examples of the Mirage in Canada last year, an impressive number considering the car’s lack of refinement next to the Nissan Micra; in early 2014, Nissan pulled the subcompact rug out from under Mitsu when it priced the Micra to undercut the Mirage by an astounding $2,500. Arnone reminded us (our mistake) that Mitsubishi discounted the Mirage’s price by $2,500 to match the Micra’s MSRP, and that will continue through 2015.

“The Mirage trumps Micra on standard equipment and fuel economy,” said Arnone. “We have always said Mirage would add incremental sales and it has: in 2014, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada broke an all-time sales record.”