Mitsubishi Evo X to be the last Evo – until, perhaps, a hybrid Evo XI

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X will be the last high-performance, 4WD petrol-engined Mitsubishi – but there could be a hybrid ‘Evo XI’ on the horizon.

The UK has just had the news that a very limited edition Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-440 MR is up for grabs as Mitsubishi celebrate their 40th anniversary.

But once the Evo X FQ-440 MR special editions are sold, it will be back to no Evos for the UK, just as it has been since 2011. And it seems the rest of the world will soon follow suit.

Mitsubishi’s Namie Koketsu said that Mitsubishi has no plans to design a successor to the Evo X as a high-performance petrol-powered saloon. But he did say that Mitsubishi will be exploring the possibilities of high performance models that incorporate electric vehicle technology.

That leaves the door open – at some point in the future – for a plug-in hybrid ‘Evo XI’, just as we revealed five years ago, even though Mitsubishi seem ready to forsake their reputation for building low cost, high power 4WD saloons in favour of fluffy bunny compact cars with hybrid powertrains.

But, for now, Mitsubishi are prepared to wreck the dreams of every pizza-faced teen with a passion for their playstation generation supercar by ending production of the Evo.

The car world will be the poorer for it.