Mitsubishi building crossovers and sedans Stateside in two years

Despite posting a three-percent increase in sales year-over-year in 2010, Mitsubishi is struggling here in the United States. The vast majority of the products in the automaker’s portfolio are slow-sellers, with only theLancer and Outlander families gaining much in the way of high praise from both the media and consumers alike. Still, Mitsubishi has plans to soldier on, and a report from Automotive News states that the Japanese automaker is looking to shift production of some of its sedans and crossovers to the United States within the next two years.

Currently, the automaker’s plant in Normal, Illinois builds the Galant, Endeavor and Eclipse, but these vehicles are scheduled to be phased out by 2013. Moving forward, Mitsubishi’s new family of vehicles based on the platform that underpins the Lancer, Outlander and Outlander Sport – vehicles that are currently built in Japan – will be assembled in Illinois. Currently, Mitsubishi has not cited any plans to create replacements for any of the outgoing models currently built here in America.

Proton builds itself a Mitsubishi Evolution

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is such a good car, it seems that Malaysian automaker Proton decided it ought to offer a version of its own. Sort of. While the company’s Jebat Concept, which was just shown off at the Kuala Lumpur Motor Show, is styled to look like the Evolution, it’s actually powered by the 237-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged mill used in the slightly less potent Ralliart model.

Nobody seems to know at the moment if the Jebat Concept has any shot at production, but its existence isn’t all that surprising considering that Proton just recently launched the Inspira, itself an almost exact copy of the standard Mitsubishi Lancer. In any case, it’s clearly differentiated from its siblings by virtue of its matte black front and rear fascias and side sills, along with a Proton-specific grille. See for yourself in the image gallery below.