Dead: The Mitsubishi Mirage

Image: Mitsubishi

The small, cheap new car market has just been dealt a massive blow. The Mitsubishi Mirage, one of the cheapest new cars on the market, will be discontinued.

My First Car: Danielle Moné Truitt’s ‘Blue Magic’ Mitsubishi Mirage

A Mitsubishi spokesperson confirmed the news to Car & Driver. They confirmed that both the Mirage G4 sedan and Mirage hatchback are done after 2024.

The news of the Mirage’s demise was confirmed today to Car and Driver by Jeremy Barnes, Mitsubishi’s North American spokesman. “Mirage is being discontinued in the U.S. market, and there will not be a 2025 model,” he said. “Production will cease late this year, and we expect to have sufficient dealer stock to last into the summer of 2025.”

The Mirage was the cheapest vehicle in Mitsubishi’s lineup and one of the cheapest new cars on sale today. Including destination, a Mirage hatchback would set you back just $17,840 ; $18,940 for the Mirage G4 sedan. Its death has been a long time coming. In early 2023, the automaker announced the small car would be discontinued in Japan, while simultaneously telling us that we had nothing to worry about here in the U.S.

By late summer 2023, sources were saying that the automaker was canning the Mirage as the first step in getting out of making sedans completely. Mitsubishi wasn’t abandoning small, cheap cars, it was just going to make them as something people want to buy: crossovers. Analysts claimed Mitsubishi’s axing of the Mirage just meant the brand had room to bring over a small cheap crossover to take its place, something Hyundai did by replacing the Accent with the Venue.

The Mirage’s cancellation is a big blow to the small car market. Not everyone wants a crossover and even then, anyone wanting a new cheap small car isn’t left with many options. Nissan has its Versa which can be had for just under $18,000, but apparently it’s on the way out. With both gone, that leaves no new cars with a starting price under $20,000. And that’s sad.