Mitsubishi considers a new, electric generation of Colt

According to a report in the French L’Automobile Magazine, the eighth generation of the Colt is set to be launched in 2027 as a BEV model based on the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric. The R5 already serves as the basis for the Alpine A290 and the new Nissan Micra.

It has been clear for years that the Japanese company will no longer develop its own models for Europe. In 2020, Mitsubishi even announced its complete withdrawal from Europe by 2022, but then changed its mind again. Since then, however, only Renault models have served as the basis for the European Mitsubishis, which are also built by Renault in the European plants. The Renaults are customised for Mitsubishi with varying degrees of effort. The Mitsubishi ASX is essentially a Renault Captur and is built together with it in Spain. Since the facelift in 2024, the relationship is no longer quite so obvious. And the current, seventh generation of the Colt is based on the Renault Clio; both vehicles are built in Bursa, Turkey.

However, according to the report from France, Mitsubishi no longer wants to use the upcoming Clio as the basis for the next, eighth generation of the Clio, as Renault is deliberately avoiding electric drives in the Clio – the Clio should not get in the way of the Renault 5 E-Tech, which has been positioned as a purely electric small car in the four-metre class. As Mitsubishi wants a small electric car, the Japanese automotive manufacturer is probably switching to the Renault 5 as the basis.

While Nissan has designed an independent body for its new Micra in the European design centre and has deliberately positioned the Micra somewhat differently, it is probably not yet entirely clear at Mitsubishi how much effort will be put into adapting the Colt and how big the differences to the Renault 5 will be. A rendering by the French publication L’Automobile Magazine basically shows the Renault 5 with the Mitsubishi logo and a slightly modified lower air intake, including new daytime running lights. It is not known whether the changes are really only minor or whether something more has been adapted. As with the Micra, however, the drive technology is likely to be the same: the Colt will probably also have two battery options with 40 and 52 kWh energy content.

Should this actually happen, the eighth-generation Colt would not be the first Renault-based electric Mitsubishi: the next generation of the Eclipse Cross SUV, which Mitsubishi will present in September, is a Renault Scenic E-Tech Electric under the bonnet (read our driving report here) – and will also be built by the French on the basis of the AmpR Medium platform at the Douai plant.

automobile-magazine.fr (in French)