Mitsubishi Submits 'Lancer' Trademark To Patent Office In US, Return Of Legendary Name?

Mitsubishi Lancer GT 2016. (Doc. Mitsubishi Motors)

JAKARTA - Shocking news came from Mitsubishi. It was reported that the Japanese auto brand intended to raise the name 'Lancer' for the United States (US) market after a decade absence.

Launching from the CarBuzz page, Tuesday, March 26, the company filed a patent for the name Lancer Sportback to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Thus, this confirms indications that the manufacturer will raise an old name similar to the Eclipse Cross incident.

It's not really strange for automotive manufacturers to apply for a number of names to the patent office in order to maintain intellectual property so that rivals cannot steal the iconic name.

However, this is still not a guarantee of whether the manufacturer with the three diamonds logo will launch the latest Lancer Sportback for Uncle Sam's country, but given that the available vehicle options are less varied, the potential is wide open.

In the US, Mitsubishi sells just a few products, such as Mirage and Outlander Sport which will be stopped soon, then Eclipse Cross, as well as Outlander which offers versions of pure combustion machines (ICE) and Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV).

Mitsubishi Lancer last explored the global market, which was introduced in 2007 to 2017. Not only fixated on the sedan variant, but the manufacturer also presented it to sportsback types at that time.

Unfortunately, this name was then injected to the global market in early 2017 and the last production was carried out in August in the same year. This car stopped production not without reason, the company wants to shift its focus on selling crossovers and SUVs around the world but Mirage Hatchback and G4 Sedan sales will continue in the North American market.

However, the company agreed to present the next generation of the legendary name Lancer to come in 2017 specifically for the Taiwan and Chinese markets. The car called Grand Lancer is still being sold today in these two countries.