Mitsubishi Grandis Reborn In The Form Of Renault Symbioz-Based SUV

All-new Grandis. (Doc. Mitsubishi Motors)

JAKARTA - An automotive manufacturer from Japan, Mitsubishi is starting to intensify in its electrification line expansion by launching an all-new hybrid-tech Grandis for the European market.

Unlike Grandis, which was once one of the MPV lines in the global market, including Indonesia, this model is presented in the form of a compact SUV that will compete in the blue continent B-Segment.

"After last year's PHEV Outlander launch, we strengthened our line of products in the European market by introducing an all-new Grandis featuring the Dynamic Shield design of Mitsubishi Motors," said Mitsubishi Motors Executive Vice President, Tatsuo Nakamura, quoted from the manufacturer's official website, Friday, July 4.

Built on the same CMF-B platform as Renault Symbioz, the car has a beautiful and distinctive "Ddynamic Shield" design language.

All-new Grandis has a spinning black grip with satin silver accents. The flowing roof line extends in the back creating side silhouettes, while making this car have a more dynamic style with a wide interior.

Equipped with a 19-inch rim and its back has a design identity known as the "Sculptural Hexagon", showing off its faulty hexagonal motif that reflects Mitsubishi's strength and toughness.

In addition, the back lights are designed sleek and horizontal as well as show a modern impression on the all-new Grandis.

The manufacturer with the "three diamonds" logo offers a two-line layout with a five-seater configuration. The back seat is equipped with a sliding function that allows adjustments forward and backward to 160 millimeters.

Designed for practicality, the car has a trunk room that can be expanded from 434 liters to 566 liters when the back seat is shifted forward.

Meanwhile, the back seat can also be folded evenly so as to produce a maximum space of up to 1,455 liters so that it can load large items.

Not only functional, this car has maximum comfort with the presence of a panoramic glass roof with an electrochromic function, allowing users to switch between transparency and shadows with a touch of buttons so as to reduce sunlight and heat from the sun while creating a wide and comfortable interior space.

The interior is equipped with a 10.4-inch screen that has been integrated by Google Built-In, so that various applications such as Google Assistant, Google Play are available, and can be connected to Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Mitsubishi offers an all-new Grandis in two driving options, namely millid-hybrid (MHEV) and hybrid (HEV) for the European market.

For MHEV's choice, this car has a 1.3 liter engine of 103 kW-powered direct-fuel injection. The performance is assisted along with a six-acceleration manual transmission option as well as a dual-clutch of seven accelerations.

The HEV variant is offered in the driving of a 1.8 liter 4-cylinder naturally-assisted engine that provides an 80 kW power boost. This is combined with two 36 kW and 15 kW electric motors.

Along with the performance of the 1.4 kWh lithium-ion battery, the HEV version of Grandis offers a multi-mode transmission system that can optimize driving according to road conditions.

This HEV system analyzes driving conditions in real time and automatically controls the optimal power distribution between engines and electric motors based on powertrain status and power usage.

There are three driving modes, namely EV Mode, which runs only on electric motor power, then Hybrid Mode, which utilizes the output of electric motors and engines simultaneously, and Regenerative Mode, which uses regenerative braking to restore the energy of the deceleration during the deseleration. This can turn the braking heat into electric power and channeled into battery driving.

The model will certainly greet the European market this year and will be assembled at Renault's Valladolid factory.