Mitsubishi faces nameplate issues with the Mirage in Europe
Mitsubishi encountered an unexpected problem when it was about to launch its new Global Small Car in Europe. The brochures were printed and the web-site ready to go live when a writ appeared prohibiting it from using the name Mirage. Mitsubishi has previously used the Mirage model name in Japan and the US but unknown to them, another company (Mitsubishi doesn't say who) has registered it for Europe.
There followed a scramble to find an alternative name and Mitsubishi settled on Spacestar formerly used on a rather different kind of car, a mini-MPV. It is rationalized by claiming an unusual amount of interior space for a 3.7m long car. This model is made in Thailand and although it seems rather plain and ordinary, can claim high efficiency as it weighs only 845 kg and has a drag coefficient of 0.27 both remarkably good for a four-seater city car.
Curiously, the Mirage name can and will be used in the UK, where the Mitsubishi company had made a separate registration.
