2008-2013 Mitsubishi Lancer EX GLX / GLS / MX / GT / GTA [continued]

**jut703** · July 8th, 2012 02:50 PM

Upon reviewing the Lancer EX lineup's specs, I must say, MMPC's product planning team is probably one of the best.

Take the Lancer EX GT-A for example, it's got a very clear strategy - be a full-featured sporty sedan. Hence, no luxury fluff such as wood trim, or leather seats, or power seat adjustments. Because of the savings for these, the car has 18" rims, adaptive HID, a Rockford Fosgate audio system, and the usual automatic headlamps and wipers.

For the lower end EX's, MMPC has taken measures to improve the ambiguous all-2.0 lineup by creating the 1.6 GLX and MX variants aimed to compete at the low-end (Altis 1.6G, Elantra GL) and mid-range (Altis 1.6V, Elantra GLS, Civic EXi) compact lineups, respectively. The supposed clincher - the 8" touch screen LCD - actually makes sense when you consider that an increasing number of car-buyers swap off their stock HUs anyway.

However, there's still not much you can do with the 16" rims that really don't go well with the fat Fortis body. Guess you can't have everything.

**ghosthunter** · July 8th, 2012 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by jut703

However, there's still not much you can do with the 16" rims that really don't go well with the fat Fortis body. Guess you can't have everything.

Minor "investment" in a set of GTA wheels will improve overall looks. Current GTA wheels only sells for P15K/set.

**chicri** · July 8th, 2012 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

It could still be the older batch of GTA units.

Break-in? Drive it normally but avoid keeping at a steady speed for too long... helps to decelerate/accelerate now and then.

Will keep that in mind. Thanks sir.

**jut703** · July 8th, 2012 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

Minor "investment" in a set of GTA wheels will improve overall looks. Current GTA wheels only sells for P15K/set.

Not a lot of sellers though.

**ghosthunter** · July 9th, 2012 01:00 AM

Originally Posted by jut703

Not a lot of sellers though.

Not a lot of GTA units sold in the first place. But there is enough if you look in the right place.

I found my two sets of GTA wheels easy enough through the forums of mitsu-lancer. Last I checked, I saw three sets of GTA wheels for sale there.

**jut703** · July 9th, 2012 05:35 PM

Hmm, what exactly is the Lancer EX 1.6 trying to be? A sporty compact like the GT-A? If so, then the 1.6L engine might not be a good selling point to the target market, who, when uninformed, will simply gravitate towards the one with the biggest displacement and highest horsepower.

On the other hand, if it's trying to be a luxo-compact like the Altis and Cruze, it certainly doesn't look the part. I don't see the older crowd liking the shark-nosed grille or the dark interior.

Well, there's the segment of the market composed of younger buyers who just like a good-looking car, but don't necessarily care if it's fast. Thing is, the 1.6 Lancers aren't really pretty out of the box (unlike the GT-A), and may lose out to other striking cars such as the Elantra or Cruze, or the new Focus. It's a good starting point though, and it won't cost a fortune to look like the GT-A, but we've yet to see how the market will react to it.

Or perhaps they're aiming for those who've liked the Lancer before but wanted a more fuel-efficient car. However, we've yet to see if the 4A92 is efficient when paired with a conventional slush box.

I find that these are pretty specific niches that, even when captured, won't necessarily give MMPC a bigger chunk of the compact car pie.

Perhaps the product planning team isn't so good after all, or that it's really hard to make a competitive car out of a base model Lancer EX.

**JohnM** · July 9th, 2012 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by jut703

Hmm, what exactly is the Lancer EX 1.6 trying to be? A sporty compact like the GT-A? If so, then the 1.6L engine might not be a good selling point to the target market, who, when uninformed, will simply gravitate towards the one with the biggest displacement and highest horsepower.

That don't stop people with 1.3 carb engines from putting whole hog WRC body kits on their rides :naughty2:

Methinks they're banking on the Mitsu fans and pitting it against the Elantra.

**sugeina** · July 10th, 2012 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by jut703

Hmm, what exactly is the Lancer EX 1.6 trying to be? A sporty compact like the GT-A? If so, then the 1.6L engine might not be a good selling point to the target market, who, when uninformed, will simply gravitate towards the one with the biggest displacement and highest horsepower.

On the other hand, if it's trying to be a luxo-compact like the Altis and Cruze, it certainly doesn't look the part. I don't see the older crowd liking the shark-nosed grille or the dark interior.

Well, there's the segment of the market composed of younger buyers who just like a good-looking car, but don't necessarily care if it's fast. Thing is, the 1.6 Lancers aren't really pretty out of the box (unlike the GT-A), and may lose out to other striking cars such as the Elantra or Cruze, or the new Focus. It's a good starting point though, and it won't cost a fortune to look like the GT-A, but we've yet to see how the market will react to it.

Or perhaps they're aiming for those who've liked the Lancer before but wanted a more fuel-efficient car. However, we've yet to see if the 4A92 is efficient when paired with a conventional slush box.

I find that these are pretty specific niches that, even when captured, won't necessarily give MMPC a bigger chunk of the compact car pie.

Perhaps the product planning team isn't so good after all, or that it's really hard to make a competitive car out of a base model Lancer EX.

i wouldn't be too quick to judge the product planning team to be "[not] so good after all". the questions you posted are really basic product planning questions, which anyone in the field of marketing should know. imo, the 2.0l variants before were an even more niche market to target here in the philippines, when most are really sensitive to fuel-consumption figures and actually prefer a/t what with our traffic conditions here. (popquiz: why was the m/t GT phased out years ago, leaving only the GT-A?)

when i was shopping for a new car and when i mentioned to my aunts and uncles and officemates (all mid-30s to early 50s) that i'm considering a lancer ex glx, they got excited at first since they were familiar with and liked the aggressive design, but became immediately turned off once i mentioned that the engine was a 2.0l. fuel efficiency was actually almost always the 3rd question i get in those conversations (first was what model, second was price, third was fuel efficiency). and of course, it will not compete anymore in the sporty-compact segment of the gt-a (that's precisely why they slapped in the smaller 1.6l engine in the first place).

official claims put the fc in the 14-16km/l range for mixed city/highway driving. as official claims always tend to be biased for the better side, i'd say 13-15km/l is a safe estimate. also, consider its price points - 778k only for the base m/t model, 828k for the base a/t, and 898k for the mx - that puts it in the city/vios pricing territory - even cheaper than the elantra, and with already a wide range of body kits/aftermarket parts available.

over-all, i'd say they found the sweet spot for the compact car category in terms of design, image (being in the same class as elantra/civic/altis/focus and above the city/vios/accent/fiesta category), fuel efficiency, and price.

**sugeina** · July 10th, 2012 02:50 PM

what i don't like, though, is this:
by phasing out the 2.0l ex glx, what car now is in the sub-900k price range with a 2.0l engine (or power-equivalent) and m/t???!

**ghosthunter** · July 10th, 2012 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by sugeina

what i don't like, though, is this:
by phasing out the 2.0l ex glx, what car now is in the sub-900k price range with a 2.0l engine (or power-equivalent) and m/t???!

Don't blame the car companies for what the pinoy motorists votes for via their wallets.