Mitsubishi’s European return is starting to take shape in unexpected yet practical ways. After announcing its retreat from the region in 2020 due to mounting losses, the brand has quietly shifted gears. Now, five years later, Mitsubishi is expanding its presence across Europe by tapping into its alliance with Renault, opting for strategic efficiency over in-house development.

More: Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Returns But It’ll Be As Japanese As A Croissant

That partnership began with the Mitsubishi Colt and ASX, which are essentially Renault Clio and Captur models with new badges. The next phase arrives in September with a fully electric successor to the Eclipse Cross, sharing its platform with the Renault Megane E-Tech crossover.

Following that, Mitsubishi plans to launch a more family-focused model called the Grandis, based on the Renault Symbioz, before the end of the year.

Building Identity in a Shared Platform World

There’s understandable skepticism around badge engineering, but Mitsubishi isn’t ignoring the criticism. Frank Krol, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Europe, addressed this in a conversation with Auto News. He said the upcoming Eclipse Cross EV will be “much more Mitsubishi” than previous rebadged efforts.

He also emphasized the brand’s intention to bring more own-developed models to Europe. At the moment, the Outlander PHEV is the only vehicle that fits that description.

Still, Krol hinted at another stage of Mitsubishi’s collaboration with Renault for the near future. While he didn’t get into details, this could be a new model based on the next generation of the Renault Clio that is expected to debut before the end of 2025.

Mitsubishi’s target is to grow annual European sales to between 75,000 and 80,000 units, up from 60,879 in 2024. That figure already represented a 44 percent increase over 2023, largely driven by the strong performance of the Renault-derived Colt and ASX.

The Problem And A Possible Answer

Despite some encouraging progress, Mitsubishi’s Renault-based models haven’t been able to offset recent losses. Between January and May 2025, the brand saw a 29 percent drop in European sales. Much of that decline stems from the discontinuation of the Space Star (Mirage) and Eclipse Cross, both of which were pulled from the market after falling short of updated safety regulations.

More: Mitsubishi’s American EV Will Be A Nissan In Disguise

The departure of the Space Star is especially significant. In 2024, it made up 39 percent of Mitsubishi’s European sales, occupying the crucial entry-level spot in the lineup. Without a replacement in the city car segment, the brand faces a clear gap in its offering.

Kei Cars in Europe? Not So Simple

One potential fix could lie in a European take on Japan’s kei car segment, an idea floated by Stellantis Chairman John Elkann and former Renault CEO Luca de Meo. For Mitsubishi, this approach would tap into its deep kei car know-how without requiring heavy investment in Europe-only models.

As Krol put it, “That would be a good tool to ramp up this industry in terms of electrification.” Still, he was quick to add that bringing kei cars to Europe “sounds easier than it is,” hinting at the regulatory and market hurdles involved.

Mitsubishi is currently active in 20 European markets, with two more under review. That’s a notable drop from the 32 markets it covered in 2019, a decline largely tied to the withdrawal of the L200 pickup from the region. According to Krol, reintroducing the midsize truck in Europe would require an electrified powertrain, which isn’t a commercially viable option given the segment’s limited sales potential.

Earlier this year, Mitsubishi cancelled plans to develop two in-house electric vehicles, choosing instead to focus on hybrids and plug-in hybrids. During a May earnings call, global CEO Takao Kato acknowledged the need for EVs in Europe, but said the company would meet that demand by leveraging products from partner OEMs rather than going it alone.

Renault is giving the Megane E-Tech a much-needed refresh in 2026, five years after it first hit the streets. This mid-lifecycle update is set to bring the electric crossover, which is really more of a hatchback, up to date with sleeker styling and updated battery packs, so it can stay competitive with newer rivals on the market.

More: One Of Europe’s Top Auto Bosses Suddenly Quit Just As Things Start Looking Up

The French brand has already made a few incremental updates to the Megane E-Tech, including adding one-pedal driving, Vehicle-to-Grid functions, and introducing an Esprit Alpine trim. However, these minor changes were just a warm-up for the upcoming actual facelift.

Small Changes, Big Upgrades

Our spy photographers caught a camouflaged prototype during testing, revealing some of the key changes. The front end will receive a major overhaul, adopting the latest styling from Renault’s other models, including the Scenic E-Tech and the ICE-powered Clio and Captur. Expect slimmer LED headlights, a new grille, and a more minimalist bumper design.

The profile will be largely left untouched, but Renault designers could add new alloy wheels and more options in the color palette. The rear will also see modest updates, with refreshed LED taillight graphics and a tweaked bumper.

Inside, the Megane E-Tech will probably stay the same. After all, it was the first model to feature Renault’s new digital cockpit and the Google-powered OpenR infotainment system, which has since been rolled out to other models in the lineup.

New Batteries Made In France

Setting aside the cosmetic changes, the new Megane E-Tech will bring important upgrades under the skin. Renault is expected to replace the current 40kW and 60kW LG battery packs that are being imported with new ones from AESC. These will be produced in Douai, France, and could extend the driving range of the EV over the 470 km (290 miles) offered by the current version.

More: Affordable Car Crisis Has EU’s Auto Giants Calling For A Radical New Category

Judging from the new generation of the Nissan Leaf that also rides on the same CMF-EV architecture, the facelifted Renault Megane E-Tech could gain 150 kW DC fast charging capabilities.

At the moment, it is not clear whether Renault will upgrade the electric powertrain of the Megane E-Tech. The outgoing model is available with single electric motors producing either 129 hp (96 kW / 131 PS) or 215 hp (160 kW / 218 PS). What we know for sure is that the Renault won’t get the tri-motor powertrain of the more upmarket Alpine A390 that generates up to 463 hp (345 kW / 469 PS).

The facelifted Megane E-Tech is expected to be unveiled toward the end of 2025, with a market launch in 2026. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Renault is already working on a completely new generation of the model, which could arrive around 2029.

SH Proshots

Affordable city cars are vanishing across Europe, and not in a cool, mysterious way. Their disappearance is being driven by a mess of regulations and a market increasingly tilted toward heavier, pricier vehicles.

Now, the heads of Stellantis and Renault are calling on European regulators to rethink the rules in order to make building small cars viable again. Their proposed fix? Borrow a page from Japan’s playbook and support the development of compact EVs, or as they’ve been dubbed, E-Cars.

Read: Stellantis CEO To Earn More In His First Year Than Most Will In A Lifetime Yet Still Trails Rivals

The decline has been dramatic. Stellantis chairman John Elkann says Europe once saw around 1 million new cars priced under €15,000 (roughly $17,400) sold each year. That number has collapsed to just 100,000. For automakers, the financial incentive to produce such vehicles is fading fast, largely due to European Union regulations that make designing and manufacturing them less and less attractive.

“We are going to face more than 120 new regulations by 2030,” Elkann said. “If you look at our engineers, more than 25 percent just work on compliance, so no value is added. There’s no reason why if Japan has a kei car, which is 40 percent of the market, Europe should not have an E-Car.”

New Regulations Are Needed

Before his unexpected resignation earlier today, Renault CEO Luca de Meo echoed Elkann’s concerns in an interview with Autonews. He called on countries like France, Spain, and Italy to take the lead in reviving the dwindling small-car segment. In his words, “driving around every day in an electric vehicle weighing 2.5 tons is clearly an environmental nonsense,” and he pushed for “the mass development of small cars for urban travel and last-mile deliveries.”

“What we are asking for is a differentiated regulation for smaller cars,” de Meo added. “There are too many rules designed for bigger and more expensive cars, which means we can’t make smaller cars in acceptable profitability conditions.”

Also: One Of Europe’s Top Auto Bosses Suddenly Quit Just As Things Start Looking Up

Stellantis, to its credit, still offers a few tiny transport options, including the Citroen Ami, Opel Rocks-e, and Fiat Topolino. All three fall under the EU’s quadricycle category, a niche regulatory loophole that allows ultra-light, low-speed vehicles to exist, barely. But to spark a broader return of small, cheap cars, European lawmakers may need to revisit those definitions entirely, either by tweaking quadricycle regulations or creating a fresh classification for compact EVs.

Researchers from the Gerpisa automotive research center are urging regulators to permit car companies to sell Kei car-like vehicles locally, believing this will help local brands compete with Chinese competition.

Emergency vehicles usually aren’t very exciting, but Renault has taken the wraps off the new Vision 4Rescue concept. It’s based on the Renault 4 E-Tech and features a drone that can be deployed from a roof-mounted storage box.

Billed as a mobile fire command center, the Vision 4Rescue features a bright red exterior with a mix of matte and gloss graphics inspired by emergency services. They’re joined by chunky fender flares and an extra 0.6 inches (15 mm) of ground clearance.

More: Ford’s Bronco Wildland Firefighting Command Vehicle Is Hot Stuff

Elsewhere, there are emergency lights and modified bumpers. The latter incorporate 3D-printed bump stops that have shock-absorbing properties to minimize damage.

The most eye-catching detail is the roof-mounted storage box, which is mounted on stylish supports. The aerodynamic compartment not only houses the aforementioned drone, but also equipment which can be used to “restore a communications network in the wake of a disaster.”

Renault says the interior was developed in close collaboration with fire services and features a split cargo area. The upper section has a slide out workspace with two monitors and a keyboard. It serves as a communications hub as well as a monitoring station for the drone.

The lower section features two storage compartments, which are designed to hold emergency equipment. This includes helmets, bags, tablets, and walkie-talkies.

The cockpit follows in the footsteps of the regular model, but has special seats with PinPon pattern upholstery. The seats are also notable for using foam sourced from recycled firefighting suits.

Elsewhere, there are walkie-talkie holders and “Je te reçois 4 sur 4” badging. The latter means ‘Reading you loud and clear.’

Renault went on to say the concept has a dual-motor all-wheel drive system and helps to promote the Software République consortium. In particular, the company said the car has nearly 20 interconnected solutions and Software République developed an ecosystem “designed to standardize the different technologies used by … emergency services for a faster and better coordinated response.”

Renault

Drivers may love the promise of hands-free, mind-at-ease driving, but not all advanced driver assistance systems are created equal. Tesla has long marketed its vehicles as tech-forward and autonomous-ready, but fresh data from Euro NCAP tells a different story, especially when it comes to how clearly the system communicates with drivers.

More: Chinese SUV Beats Porsche Macan To Become Euro NCAP’s Safest EV In 2024

The Model S earned just 30% in Assistance Competence, a category where even smaller and more affordable EVs outperformed it. For comparison, the Kia EV3 scored 74% and the Renault 5 managed 73%. Both vehicles cost significantly less and make fewer promises about automation.

Euro NCAP’s Assisted Driving Grading program is built to evaluate how safely and responsibly automakers implement partially automated features. The scoring system weighs two key areas: Assistance Competence, which looks at how well the system communicates with the driver, and Safety Backup, which assesses how the car handles actual safety interventions, such as collision avoidance.

In the most recent round of testing, both the Tesla Model S and the Volvo EX30 received a “Moderate” rating, an underwhelming result for two companies that lean heavily on safety and tech in their marketing.

Tesla’s Language Problem

Tesla’s latest Autopilot system in the Model S did deliver a strong 94% score for Safety Backup, but its poor Assistance Competence score pulled the overall rating down. Euro NCAP cited the misleading “Autopilot” branding and promotional language, which they say overstates the system’s capabilities and can mislead drivers into overestimating how autonomous the system really is.

“Tesla is misleading consumers about their Autopilot system’s capabilities simply through its name and marketing, which could have potential safety implications,” said the organization. “A well-designed system will co-operate with the driver, appropriately inform about the level of assistance, and ultimately offer crash avoidance in critical situations; otherwise, it may introduce additional risks.”

Another problem noted by the testers is that the steering input of the Model S is resistant to a driver attempting to override it, and when they do, it automatically disengages.

“The name ‘Autopilot’ of Tesla’s system, as well as its promotional material, all suggest full automation, which is deemed inappropriate by Euro NCAP and led to a downgrade in their score,” said Euro NCAP. “Additionally, unlike the Porsche, its steering input is resistant to a driver attempting to override it, and when the driver does, the system automatically disengages, limiting its usefulness.”

EuroNCAP

As for the Pilot Assist system fitted on the Volvo EX30, it scored 72% for Safety Backup and 62% for Assistance Competence. The main reason for the relatively low scores is that the driver has to take their eyes off the road in order to check the system alerts on the centrally mounted touchscreen. Furthermore, the driving assistance systems were found not to disengage, even after repeated hands-off alerts.

Other vehicles in this round had mixed showings. The MG ZS also landed in the “Moderate” category, while the Mazda CX-80 and the Chinese XPeng G9 fared better with “Good” ratings.

The Pleasant Surprises

More encouraging results came from four models that earned a “Very Good” rating. The Porsche Macan’s, using its InnoDrive system with Active Lane Keeping, scored 92% for Safety Backup and 85% for Assistance Competence, the highest in this round. Euro NCAP praised the clarity of its status displays and the transparency of its promotional materials.

More: The Brands With The Most 5-Star Safety Ratings Over The Last 10 Years

Other good performers with intuitive systems included the facelifted Toyota bZ4X crossover and the Kia EV3 small SUV. Finally, the Active Driver Assist package of the Renault 5 electric supermini impressed Euro NCAP’s testers, who praised it for “demonstrating how assisted driving systems can perform just as well on more affordable cars”.

Adriano Palao, ADAS Technical Manager at Euro NCAP, said: “The safe operation of Assisted Driving systems can only be achieved if consumers clearly understand their role as drivers, know how to operate the system, and are aware of its limitation…A well-designed system will cooperate with the driver, appropriately inform about the level of assistance, and ultimately offer crash avoidance in critical situations; otherwise, it may introduce additional risks.”

Below you can find the scores of all nine models that participated in this testing phase.

EURO NCAP ASSISTED DRIVING 2025 TEST RATINGS

Renault’s retro 4 E-Tech crossover has only just hit the streets of Europe, and already the company is teasing us about a major upgrade. The 4 Savane is a rugged, off-road-themed concept that adds an extra motor to the EV’s rear axle, giving the 4 all-wheel drive for the first time.

Borrowing a name from one of the original R4s, the Savane gets a 15 mm (0.6 inches) body lift, and bespoke 18-inch wheels with Goodyear UltraGrip performance tires that increase the track width by 20 mm (0.79 inches) front and rear.

Related: The New Renault 4 E-Tech Makes For A Chic Beach Buggy

Its Jade Green paint is new to the R4 and topped by a printed fabric roof, while the stock bumper overriders are replaced by new 3D-printed parts with shock-absorbing properties. The interior also gets an outdoorsy theme courtesy of seats finished in Deep Brown and featuring houndstooth backrests and bolsters.

We hope you like brown because there’s more mud coloring on the dashboard, but the Savane’s real appeal is that it might also be able to handle some mud on its tires with an extra electric motor boosting traction.

The production 4 E-Tech rides on the same AmpR Small architecture as the award-winning Renault 5 E-Tech and its Alpine A290 brother, and all of those production cars are strictly single-motor, front-wheel drive affairs – the $180k, RWD  Renault 5 Turbo 3E rides on a totally different platform.

Single-motor Fours get a choice of 118 hp (120 PS / 88 kW) and 148 hp (150 PS / 110 kW) power units, so adding a second motor to the rear could theoretically push power close to 300 hp (304 PS / 224 kW), which is not far off 10 times as much power as the original Renault 4 had back in 1961. That wouldn’t just be the basis for a rugged Savane production car, but could enable Renault to get into the hot crossover market with an AWD Alpine spinoff.

Renault hasn’t confirmed the Savane, or a bi-motor 4 for production, saying only that it “demonstrates the potential of the AmpR Small platform to create a B-segment electric vehicle with four-wheel drive,” but it tends not to make concepts that don’t have real production intent. What we don’t yet know is whether the Renault 5, running on a shorter version of AmpR Small, could also accommodate a rear motor.

Images: Renault

Back in April, Renault gave us a bit of a price shocker when they announced that their widebody, all-electric R5 Turbo 3E, a tribute to the iconic 5 Turbo, would set buyers back an astonishing €155,000 (a little over $175,000 at current exchange rates). Naturally, many scoffed at the idea of an electric hot hatch costing more than a new Porsche 911 GTS, but as it turns out, demand for the car is, well, shockingly strong.

Read: Renault 5 Turbo 3E Is An Electric Hyper Hatch With Over 500 HP

At their recent Annual General Meeting in France, Renault shared some interesting news: within just one week of the R5 Turbo 3E’s launch, they had secured an impressive 850 orders for the 1,980 units they plan to produce worldwide. What makes this even more noteworthy is that these allocations aren’t as simple as a quick call to your local Renault dealer. Securing one of these hyper hatches is a bit more complicated – and a lot more costly than you might think.

A Hefty Deposit for a Hefty Price Tag

To get in line for the R5 Turbo 3E, prospective buyers need to fork over a non-refundable deposit of €45,000 (around $51,000). This means Renault has already pocketed a cool €38.25 million ($43.2 million) in deposits. The company has confirmed that these funds will help complete the development of the hot new EV, so it’s not just the customers who are investing in this electric dream.

Just a few days after Renault first announced that order books for the car would open, company boss Fabrice Cambolive took to LinkedIn to confirm that 500 customer reservations had already been placed alongside an additional 200 from its dealers. Evidently, there are more people out there willing to spend an extraordinary amount of money on an exciting Renault.

Impressive Specs for a Pricey Package

The R5 Turbo 3E is based around a carbon fiber monocoque with two in-wheel motors out back. Together, they churn out a combined 540 horsepower, propelling the sub-compact car to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 3.5 seconds.

Under the hood, the 70 kWh battery pack and 800-volt electrical architecture should give the car a range of over 250 miles (400 km). And, if you’re in a hurry, a quick 15-minute charge can take the battery from 15% to 80%. So, while it may cost an arm and a leg, at least you’ll be getting some serious performance in return.