First look at the 2021 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

What will be the economic consequences of Mitsubishi’s withdrawal from Europe is too early to know, but in the meantime they are preparing to launch the Eclipse Cross 2021 after it has undergone a bit of horizontal updates. The compact SUV, one of the Japanese manufacturer’s strategic vehicles, has recently undergone a partial facelift and headquarters is releasing a collection of photos and some details about it ahead of next year’s premiere. The local importer Colmobil told the “automotive world” that it will arrive in Israel in the second half of 2021.

The Eclipse Cross was introduced in 2017 and the title beast buried with a 90s GT car (“Eclipse” Coupe). Mitsubishi opted for this family interpretation with sporty lines and a slightly more dynamic personality than its big brother Outlander and even embedded an energetic turbo gasoline engine in it and as usual equipped it with rich instrumentation even in the entry-level versions. This, among other things, to make it a global product similar to the Kia Celtus, one of its direct competitors.

The facelift does not completely shake up the original appearance. This is in line with the Triton and ASX models with the biggest change seen on the front. The design of the ‘Mitsubishi Dynamic Shield’ has been updated with a grille and a sharper face, the bumpers have been replaced, the LED lighting has been upgraded and in general the entire front structure radiates a combative and flat character than before. Equally interesting changes were made in the tail, where the designers separated the lighting beam and chose two separate fixtures that looked as if they had been re-worn on the rear C-beams and pulled inwards into the glass. In general, the structure looks rounder than the pre-refresh model and shares little resemblance to the Nissan Juke.

Human engineering has remained as it was in the interior, so most of the changes are limited to the information and entertainment systems and the distribution of switches. The main console monitor has been enlarged to 8 inches and it has reduced the touch distance from the driver and passenger by a few inches to reduce distractions while driving. Mitsubishi also added a number of physical controls and decided to remove the digital touchpad after realizing it was not user-friendly enough.

The 1.5-liter turbo petrol engine continues the traditional model with 163 hp and a continuous gearbox on front or dual propulsion in the most equipped versions. The hybrid option will be known as the 2.4-liter Outlander PHEV engine, but there is no information about the system’s capabilities. In terms of output or range of travel on the battery, Mitsubishi nevertheless states that this will allow a two-way charge, which means that it can be used to operate “heavy” devices that require high voltage.