Mitsubishi has long shown itself to be an automobile manufacturer with the capability to produce some of the market’s most reliable yet affordable vehicles.
As with many of its counterparts from Japan, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is not a new firm – it has been around for nearly 50 years.
Given the company’s lengthy experience with the manufacture of motor vehicles, there is never a danger of it having any shortage of eager customers, particularly in markets that are more cost-conscious.
Within regions such as the Middle East and Asia, Mitsubishi has found strong support via word-of-mouth marketing, with existing customers only too willing to recommend the brand to others.
There are currently nine different models in the Gulf region’s line-up of Mitsubishi vehicles, which encompass all of the brand’s strengths and continue to be a strong value-for-money prospect even if some of the models are today quite old.
By far the cheapest of the stable’s current line-up of vehicles in the Middle East, including in the United Arab Emirates, is the Mirage hatchback.
Today’s Mirage was originally introduced eight years ago as a concept at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, with a full-scale production unit becoming available all over the world the following year.
The vehicle is available in just one trim in the UAE – the GLX.
The Mitsubishi Mirage GLX is priced at a low Dh36,900, and is up against the likes of the Suzuki Celerio and the Chevrolet Spark.
Mitsubishi says that the primary goal when designing and developing the Mirage was to ensure that it could deliver high efficiency while retailing at the low price point that was promised to customers.
The Mirage is very much a budget vehicle, with the conventional 1.2-litre petrol engine with only three cylinders giving it its power.
There is also modest horsepower of 77 at 6,000 rpm and a peak torque rating of 100 Nm when the vehicle reaches 4000 rpm.
The Mirage weighs close to just 950kg, with a low-power motor matched with a CVT gearbox, but it still delivers a quite impressive fuel economy rating of 4.8L/100km.
This means that owners of the Mirage are unlikely to be complaining about poor fuel economy with this vehicle.
The 1.2-litre engine does not deliver a great deal of punch – it takes as long as 13.9 seconds to go from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour, with the top speed being just 167km/h.
On the other hand, the car offers enough room to seat as many as five adults and offers 235 litres of boot space.
The Mitsubishi Mirage offers plenty of features such as dual front airbags, electronic stability control, a tire pressure monitor, ABS with EBD and hill-start assist.
The GLX trim in the UAE also comes with 15-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry, a multifunction leather-wrapped steering wheel, front fog lamps, and a four-speaker audio system complete with USB and Bluetooth connectivity.
Anyone who drives the Mitsubishi Mirage or any other vehicle in the UAE needs car insurance.
Car insurance defends motorists against the financial costs of accidents and other incidents such as car theft.