Mitsubishi has lit a fire under the enthusiast community by announcing that the automaker is planning to send the Evolution out to pasture in order to focus solely on electric vehicle and hybrid development. Currently, the Evolution is an all-wheel drive terror best suited for locking horns with the Subaru WRX STI, and while rumors had arisen that the Japanese automaker was working on a new hybrid system for the vehicle, Gauy Eusegi, the company’s global product director, effectively put those whispers to bed. While at the Geneva Motor Show, Eusegi was quoted as saying that while there is still plenty of demand for the Evolution, Mitsubishi had to stop producing the vehicle to focus its attentions elsewhere.
Those attentions, it turns out, are firmly set on electric vehicles and hybrids. Previously, Mitsubishi had announced that it intends to unveil a plug-in electric by 2013, and that in the future, all of its products will be engineered to accept a hybrid or electric drivetrain.
Unfortunately, that’s not welcome news to the hordes left licking their wounds over the death of the Evolution. An entire movement has since cooked up to fight against the electrification of Mitsubishi all together.