Mitsubishi Motors is to debut its all-new Outlander at the Geneva International Motor Show on March 6.

The latest version of the popular 5/7-seat SUV - which has attracted over 7,000 New Zealand owners since it arrived here in 2006 - is expected to be eco-friendlier than ever, with fuel efficiency and CO2 emission levels among the best in its class.

The new-generation Outlander will be sold first in Russia, in the northern summer, and is targeted to arrive in New Zealand in late 2012, with a choice of high-efficiency  petrol and diesel engines. Variants using Mitsubishi’s Plug-in Hybrid EV system will follow.

Depending on model, new Outlander’s advanced safety technologies include FCM (forward collision mitigation system), which brakes the car when it detects an obstacle on the road, and ACC (adaptive cruise control system), which maintains a safe distance from the car ahead, even in heavy traffic.

The Central North Island regional team won bragging rights at the recent Mitsubishi Motors Paralympics NZ National Championships at Hamilton,  regaining the team trophy they last won 20 years ago.

But it was a mainlander, equestrian Frances Dick, who won the Mitsubishi  Motors Trophy for the championships’ most outstanding performance. Frances, who has a condition called hemiplegia - paralysis to one side of the body and  impaired muscle function - finished with gold medals in four events.

Frances trains six mornings a week with her thoroughbred cross Oxford Belle and coach Rachel Thomas on her family's property in the Pig Valley, near Wakefield, before heading  off to put in some time with the YMCA’s after school care programme or Nelson CCS.

Her dream of competing at the 2012 London Paralympics is getting closer to being  a reality: she has already qualified (at an event in Hartpury, England earlier this year) and now needs to maintain her form. To make the cut, she needs to be ranked  among the top riders in her grade worldwide.

The bubbly 28-year-old is not short of confidence that she can make it. "I'm always  good with goals – if I know what I've got to do. I'm quite structured like that, so  that helps me."

The bi-annual championships, which attracted 160 athletes from across the country,  has shown itself to be a breeding ground for future Paralympians.  Frances is determined to be one of them.

Working with specialist Japanese companies, Mitsubishi will by mid-2012 add to its lineup of proprietary plant-based "Green Plastic" products a new type of floor mat, made using plant-based bio-polyethylene (bio-PE) fibre.

Bio-PE is a plant-based resin made from sugarcane molasses, a thick syrup produced in refining raw sugar. With an eye on using less petroleum-based plastics and cutting CO2 emissions, Mitsubishi has developed the fibre for use in floor mat piling. The new fibre has a core-sheath structure: a bio-PE core is sheathed in conventional petroleum-based polypropylene , allowing it  to meet the required high levels of abrasion and heat resistance performance.

Mitsubishi calculates that the new floor mat achieves a 15 percent cut  in life-cycle CO2 emissions over mats made from polypropylene fibre only.

Petroleum-based plastics are widely used in car parts, and  Mitsubishi is  developing a series of plant-based "Green Plastics" to replace them. Current  Green Plastics products include materials made from liquefied wood-based  phenolic resins and interior surface materials which combine PET  (polyethylene terephthalate) and cotton fibres.

For the first time, Mitsubishi will launch a new global vehicle in the heart of the demanding European market.

Remember Mirage? Who hasn’t had one of Mitsubishi’s hugely popular 5-door hatches  in the family at some time or other?

Despite its absence from new-car listings since the eighties many warmly remember the car for its  easy-driving, affordable, pile-it-all-in-the-back motoring. Now, Mirage is poised to make a comeback: still a compact yet roomy city/suburban 5-seater but strikingly styled and equipped with green, high-efficiency technology that promises a startling leap forward in fuel economy.

At the 30 November opening of the Tokyo Motor Show Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) is  expected to announce the Mirage as its new “global small” car. First sales will be in March, in Thailand, and the car is likely to arrive here later next year or early 2013.

“How far can I drive my electric car before it needs charging again?”

Across its forty years in New Zealand, Mitsubishi has earned itself a sound name for building safe, well-specified cars.

In its 2012 models, just becoming available, the Porirua-based three-diamonds importer is ramping up this facet of its reputation still further with new features that quietly, unobtrusively get on with the job of making driving even safer.

Across its forty years in New Zealand, Mitsubishi has earned itself a sound name for building safe, well-specified cars.

Phone 0800 54 53 52 and you’re talking to New Zealand’s best car-industry contact centre, bar none.

Mitsubishi Motors’ eight-strong Porirua-based customer care team were named winners of the transport/travel sector at the call centre industry’s annual CRM Awards at Sky City on Friday 2 September.

Over a hundred top-flight contact centres, from eleven industry sectors, entered the awards.

It was a rewarding night for Mitsubishi. As well as winning the transport category,  the team won the top award for the quality of their online communications: Haig Davidson was finalist for “manager of the year” and Mike Bodley for “team leader of the year”: and the judges chose team member Sieanna Iafeta as a favourite customer service representative.

“The real winners, of course, are our customers” said Haig. “Anyone  who gets in touch with us wants a response that’s not only quick and accurate, but also warm and friendly. While we are flattered to collect these awards, we know we are only as good as our response to the next phone call or email”.

Haig added: “Industry recognition of our team’s performance, together with customer care initiatives like our unique 10-year Diamond Advantage warranty, takes us a further step along the way towards achieving our vision to provide the best customer service in New Zealand”.

The CRM awards, begun 14 years ago, use exhaustive “mystery shopper” techniques to take a regular “snapshot” of how effectively contact centres respond to customers’ phone and internet enquiries.