NY Auto Show: Breaking News: Mitsubishi Announces the i MiEV will be Sold to the US Public

by Benjamin Jones on April 9, 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37UqQa8ik1o

This morning at the New York International Auto Show, Mitsubishi announced that they would be beginning sales of their i MiEV electric car to the public in the near future. The car, which will begin to roll off the line in Japan in July expects to reach production goals of 2,000 units in 2009 and 5,000 in 2010.

Since Mitsubishi announced the car’s sale to fleets they have already gotten purchase orders for all 2,000 units that will be produced this year. This is a strong indicator of desire in the Japanese for small, electric cars. That’s why Mitsubishi has finally announced that it will sell the car to individuals in Japan and other markets as the vehicle becomes available there.

Mitsubishi has plans to sell the car in both Europe and North America, but those sales are slowed by lack of production capacity to satisfy all markets. However, in a not so shocking move today, Mitsubishi has announced that they will release their electric car in the United States before 2012.

The car is currently selling for about $40,000 in Japan, and we should expect a similar price in the United States. If you’re interested, check out my i MiEV test drive. This car really is ready to go on the world market.

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