Mitsu dealers eager for redesigned Outlander

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misidentified Richard Nisbett’s role on the Mitsubishi National Advisory Board. He is member of the board and the previous year’s chairman.

The redesigned Mitsubishi Outlander marks a new era for the small Japanese challenger brand.

Richard Nisbett, a member of the Mitsubishi National Advisory Board, got a sneak peek of the midsize crossover, due to go on sale in the second quarter. He called the design, fit and finish "next level" and said the 2022 Outlander will be a game-changer.

It will be the first Mitsubishi built on a platform from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, sharing underpinnings with the Nissan Rogue. It likely will share little or nothing with the current generation, which was introduced for the 2014 model year.

Nisbett, who owns Daytona Mitsubishi in Daytona Beach, Fla., is excited about the lineup.

"Every model's been either upgraded or it's going to be all-new," Nisbett said. "Would I like a deeper bench? Absolutely. But it's exciting to see the investment that Mitsubishi's putting in."

Mitsubishi is looking to bounce back from a tough 2020 that snapped its seven-year streak of U.S. sales gains. Sales fell 28 percent to 87,387.

Nisbett is looking forward to more platform-sharing opportunities with Nissan down the road.

"Nissan has its own issues right now," Nisbett said. "That has reshaped their model of business from pure volume to realigning. My hope is that might give more opportunity for us to share stuff. If Nissan's not absorbing all their volume within their own dealer [network], it would make sense to share some of their factory volume or model lines with a sister company."