Mitsubishi designer's vision unveiled

Spirited cars for spirited people will be the new global message for Mitsubishi Motors. The company wants to draw on its success in North America where it has the youngest buyer profile of any of the Japanese car companies and woo the young market. "Thirty eight per cent of our buyers are aged fewer than 35 which gives us the youngest average age of any Japanese car maker in the US," said Pierre Gagnon, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mitsubishi Motors Sales of America Inc. For the States, the company will adopt a slogan of "wake up and drive" he said at the Detroit Motor Show this week. His optimism was backed by Rolf Eckrodt, Chief Operating Officer of Mitsubishi Motors who has just completed his first year in the job. "We have made a lot of progress with record increases in productivity and quality and the turn round are ahead of schedule." Mitsubishi was establishing a different brand identity for itself within the DaimlerChrysler Alliance, "with more to come. These show a clear focus for our new design identity and have been achieved with speed, passion, teamwork and a commitment to deliver. Our design must respect that, but not become a prisoner of it. "Functionality is the philosophy behind each car and the cabriolet is aimed at young people with high-tech hobbies." Mr Boulay said that Mitsubishi has a tremendous range of vehicles and his aim was to "refresh it from the bottom up." The long roof retracts fully and novel features include door panels which detach to act as carry bags and a built-in shower to clean up after a day on the beach.