While Attrage is a whole new nameplate, the hatchback from which this sedan derives is the most recent Mitsubishi to carry one of the most important badges in this automaker’s history. The oldest Mirage was released in 1978, as part of the Eastern automakers’ response to the 1973 oil crisis, but it’s interesting to observe how confusing were the naming strategies used on it over the years. Other markets received it as Colt with both working one category below Lancer’s, but in 1982 it was created a Lancer Fiore. The intention was to complete the hatch-and-wagon line with a sedan, but it ended being known only as Lancer, like the original one. Since at that time Chrysler owned part of Mitsubishi, all these cars were also taken to North America: they arrived as Dodge Colt and Plymouth Champ, but turned into Plymouth Colt only two years later. That structure became even more complex at the 1983-debuted second phase, which ended also as Proton Saga in Malaysia and Eagle Vista in United States. The third phase extinguished the first of these, changed the second to Summit, brought Dodge Colt once again and dropped Lancer’s “Fiore” suffix starting in 1987, while the fourth created Proton Satria, Putra and Wira starting in 1991 – this one had a sporty variation called Lancer GSR, from which the very first Lancer Evolution was derived.
Released in 1995, Mirage’s fifth generation was the last one to follow such complicated history. At that time the only external company to receive these cars was Soueast, which created the Chinese Lioncel. Mitsubishi, however, kept all the previous badges and added Virage for that market and Signo for Venezuela. The Mirage nameplate was dropped in 2003, leaving the midsize category entirely to the Lancer line, while for the first time Colt became a whole different car: Europe received it in 2002 as a sporty subcompact hatchback, which lasted until last year. After that, Mitsubishi has decided to ressurrect Mirage, but as the supermini which replaced Colt in Europe by the name of Space Star and made the automaker’s debut among the emergent markets’ low-cost lines. Attrage couldn’t be badged just as “Mirage Sedan” because the intention is to have each one competing for a specific public. The hatchback has bigger concerns with the design in order to attract the younger customers, leaving the families to the sedan. This car’s first appearance was made through the G4 concept, whose biggest differences from the production version were only the aerodynamic kit and some visual accessories.
Attrage won’t be chosen for its design, but it’s easy to agree that it is a good-looking car. It reveals great attention to the details, helping to give much better impression than Etios’s “melted” front, for instance, along with staying far from using too much creativity in creased or round volumes – those are the respective reasons why Honda Brio Amaze and Nissan Versa look a little weird. This car will start at Thailand, then will be taken to other Asian markets and after that to other continents, but the proposal will be basically the same: being an efficient car, more than only being cheap. The powertrain will feature Mirage’s four-cylinder 1.2L and its excellent consumption rates, paired to manual or CVT five-speed transmissions. There isn’t much official information related to the interior, but the intention is to seat five without space problems, investing on good-quality materials and big equipment lists to compensate the status of a popular car. There will be items such as start/stop button, a complete infotainment system with central-console touchscreen and the reverse-gear camera. The modern platform makes Attrage bring front airbags and ABS brakes as standard, besides of several high-resistance materials composing the external structure.