The Mitsubishi Carisma is a large family car that was produced for the European market by Mitsubishi Motors from 1995 to 2004.Large Family Cars, EuroNCAP
The model name was derived from a combination of the English car and the Greek kharisma, meaning "divine gift".Fact & Figures 2005 , p.33, Mitsubishi Motors website It was co-developed with Volvo, sharing its chassis with the first generation of the Volvo S40, and built at the NedCar factory in Born, Netherlands, which the two companies co-owned at the time. Over 350,000 were built during its production run. Volume production begun in May 1995 with sales starting in The Netherlands in June. The four-door saloon sales started the following year."A question of carisma", Yahoo Cars, October 6, 2004RAC Review http://www.rac.co.uk/drive/car-reviews/mitsubishi/carisma/207327/Parkers Reviews reviews http://www.parkers.co.uk/mitsubishi/carisma/Driven To Write: "The Big Ask". https://driventowrite.com/2016/10/27/1995-mitsubishi-carisma-market-failure/
Development Available as a four door saloon or a five door hatchback style only, it featured inline four petrol engines from 1.3 L (introduced later in life) to 1.8 L, 1.8 L direct injection petrol engine from 1998, and 1.9 L turbo-diesel powerplants sourced from Renault, later with the 1.9 DI-D common rail diesel engine, the same as used in both Volvo and Renault cars. Mitsubishi claimed the 1.8 GDI engine offered a 20% saving in fuel consumption, 10% increase in power and 20% decrease in greenhouse gases when compared to a conventional 1.8 petrol engine.
The Carisma had a fairly neutral design as a result of being Mitsubishi's first attempt to target the traditionally conservative European company car market, where it competed with the likes of the Ford Mondeo."Mitsubishi Carisma Used Car review", Jason Dawe, The Sunday Times, 17 October 2004
The Carisma was facelifted in 1999, with the new models being launched in the UK on the 1st of August. This included a new front end, interior, boot lid and rear lights. It also featured ABS as standard, a wider front track and uprated suspension. The Carisma underwent a slight redesign again in 2002, with the main difference being new tinted headlights, new alloy wheel designs and black front grilles, instead of chrome. The car was placed between the Lancer and the Galant, although after production ended in December 2004, the Lancer took its place in Mitsubishi's European range.
In several markets where the Lancer was not available, the Evolution version was rebadged as the Mitsubishi Carisma GT. However, in France a special edition of the Carisma called the GT was available, and was featured alongside the Evolution rebadge in promotional brochures. In Japan, the Carisma was sold at a specific retail chain called Car Plaza. It was only available for 1996 and 1997 as a 1.8 saloon, with trim levels being L, LX and LS. The chassis was also used by Proton to develop the Proton Waja.
Production and sales Year Production Sales 1995 19,100 ? 1996 44,401 ? 1997 82,255 ? 1998 78,239 ? 1999 54,460 ? 2000 29,800 38,548 2001 22,203 28,647 2002 28,776 30,429 2003 26,074 28,123 2004 – 9,875
(Sources: Fact & Figures 2000, Fact & Figures 2005, Mitsubishi Motors website)
Gallery
Engines ModelEngineDisplacementValvetrainFuel systemMax. power at rpmMax. torque at rpmYearsPetrol engines1.3Mitsubishi 4G131299 ccSOHC 16vMulti-point fuel injection at 5000 rpm at 4000 rpm2001–20041.6Mitsubishi 4G921597 ccSOHC 16vMulti-point fuel injection at 5500 rpm at 4000 rpm1995–19971.6Mitsubishi 4G921597 ccSOHC 16vMulti-point fuel injection at 5750 rpm at 4000 rpm1997–20001.6Mitsubishi 4G921597 ccSOHC 16vMulti-point fuel injection at 6000 rpm at 4500 rpm2000–20041.8Mitsubishi 4G931834 ccSOHC 16vMulti-point fuel injection at 5500 rpm at 4500 rpm1995–19971.8 MSXMitsubishi 4G931834 ccDOHC 16vMulti-point fuel injection at 6500 rpm at 5000 rpm1995–19971.8 GDIMitsubishi 4G931834 ccDOHC 16vGasoline direct injection at 5500 rpm at 3750 rpm1997–20001.8 GDIMitsubishi 4G931834 ccDOHC 16vGasoline direct injection at 5500 rpm at 3750 rpm2000–2003Diesel engines1.9 TDRenault F8QT1870 ccSOHC 8vIndirect injection at 4250 rpm at 2250 rpm1997–20001.9 DI-DRenault F9Q11870 ccSOHC 8vCommon rail direct injection at 4000 rpm at 1800 rpm2000–20041.9 DI-DRenault F9Q21870 ccSOHC 8vCommon rail direct injection at 4000 rpm at 1800 rpm2000–2004
References