One of the Last Cheap Cars Is Dead—and It Was a Mitsubishi
Pour one out for another cheap car succumbing to market forces.
Alexander StoklosaWriterAug 07, 2024
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Affordability might not be dead, but the Mitsubishi Mirage is. And it was affordable, at least while it lasted, the automaker has confirmed that there will be no 2025 model year for the Mirage. The subcompact has already stopped production for the U.S. market, and that current dealer stock is expected to last until well into next year.
Now, Mitsubishi has done something like this before with the Mirage, essentially selling the cheap subcompact hatchback and Mirage G4 sedan every other model year, and filling in the middle with small gluts of dealer stock. (It last updated the little guy back in 2020.) This time, however, Mitsubishi isn’t using language suggestive of any pause (with the Mirage to return the model year after next, for example), and instead is calling the Mirage, well, a mirage going forward.
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Few people will miss the Mirage itself, which is tiny and under-powered by a 78-hp (!) three-cylinder engine with a continuously variable automatic transmission, but they might miss what it represents: An affordable new car that starts at less than $20,000. There are a shrinking pool of small, cheap cars for buyers to choose from, further exacerbating the affordability crisis facing the car industry overall. Average transaction prices are hovering near the $50,000 mark after shooting up from the mid-$30,000 range before supply chain shocks and car demand spikes during the pandemic. Automakers increasingly are abandoning low-priced cars for higher-priced (and higher-profit) trucks and SUVs, and subcompact cars like the Mirage (the least expensive stuff available) has been evaporating quicker than other low-cost options.
With the $17,840 (to start) Mirage hatchback and $18,940 Mirage G4 sedan gone, the only subcompact car options left are the Fiat 500e EV ($34,095), Nissan Versa ($17,820), and the upcoming 2025 Mini Cooper (which also will start around $30,000 when it arrives). There are a few compact sedans still on offer (one size class up from the Mirage) that start around $20,000, but their ranks are thinning out, too, in favor of subcompact SUVs, some of which still offer low prices and decent value (looking at you, Chevrolet Trax and Nissan Kicks). For shoppers looking to get into a new car with a warranty for as little money as possible, the trends aren’t favorable.
Alexander Stoklosa
A lifelong car enthusiast, I stumbled into this line of work essentially by accident after discovering a job posting for an intern position at Car and Driver while at college. My start may have been a compelling alternative to working in a University of Michigan dining hall, but a decade and a half later, here I am reviewing cars; judging our Car, Truck, and Performance Vehicle of the Year contests; and shaping MotorTrend’s daily coverage of the automotive industry.