Ha! No they don’t. Instead, they’re reviving that not-quite-illustrious nameplate ‘Eclipse’, the perennial that-guy car, for a new crossover, because smart business decisions don’t seem to matter.
The original Eclipse which ran for four generations from 1989 to 2012 where sports coupes in a very general, and generous, way. They had two doors and the first two gens actually came with all-wheel drive (before settling on a front-engine/front-drive setup). The drop-top Spider (evocative of actual sports cars) was also available. Unfortunately, unlike the bug-fuck Lancer, Mitsu never really fitted the Eclipse with guts.
Now, teeter-tottering on the precipice of irrelevancy, some schmuck executive at the company seems to think that attaching this name to a crossover is what’s needed to revive their fortunes.
To be fair, crossovers are hot right now as people are idiots (see: Trump is the president of the USA.) Still, it’s going to take something special for the Japenese brand to stand out in an already over-saturated market. Pehaps adding ‘Cross’ to the end of the name will be what it takes. It won’t, but maybe*.
*But no.
[…] only new vehicle announced in the short-term is the upcoming Eclipse Cross. No word on how else they plan on keeping people interested for the next half-decade or […]