The Mitsubishi Z platform was a small-car platform jointly developed by

DaimlerChrysler The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

and

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Mitsubishi Colt The Mitsubishi Colt is a nameplate from Mitsubishi Motors that has been applied to a number of automobiles since 1962. It was first introduced with a series of kei and subcompact cars in the 1960s, and then for the export version of the subcompac ...

first introduced in 2003. It was also used a year later in the

Smart Forfour The Smart Forfour (stylized as "smart forfour") is a city car (A-segment) marketed by Smart over two generations. The first generation was marketed in Europe from 2004 to 2006 with a front-engine configuration, sharing its platform with the Mitsubi ...

, and was to have underpinned DaimlerChrysler's

Smart Formore The Smart Formore was a small all-wheel drive SUV, riding on the same platform as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The architecture would be shared with the Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class, an SUV that is smaller than the M-Class. Power would have ranged from a ...

mini SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

until that project was discontinued. The

Mitsubishi Colt The Mitsubishi Colt is a nameplate from Mitsubishi Motors that has been applied to a number of automobiles since 1962. It was first introduced with a series of kei and subcompact cars in the 1960s, and then for the export version of the subcompac ...

, which was built at the

NedCar VDL Nedcar is an automotive manufacturing company in Born, Netherlands. Since December 2012 it has been owned by the Dutch industrial conglomerate VDL Groep. Previous owners were Mitsubishi Motors and Volvo Cars. The company had its origins in a ...

plant in

Born, Netherlands Born (; li, Bor ) is a village in the Dutch municipality of Sittard-Geleen. It has a port on the Julianakanaal (Juliana canal). Born is also the site of the car factory VDL Nedcar and the headquarters and European Distribution Center of Mitsubish ...

, the

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian mu ...

''carrozzeria'' in

Turin, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

and the

Okazaki, Aichi is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 386,999 in 164,087 households, and a population density of 999 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Okazaki is in the coastal plains o ...

plant in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, was the only "Z-car" in production which uses the platform.

Uses

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

(2004-2012)

Smart Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...

Released

(2004-2006)

Unreleased

References

"Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Announces Financial Results, Reports on Achievement of Major Milestones in Turnaround"
Mitsubishi Motors press release, May 18, 2001
Commission decision of 20 December 2001 on the State aid which Germany is planning to implement for DaimlerChrysler AG in Kölleda
Eur-Lex.Europa.eu, October 19, 2002
"Forward Model Programmes, West European car manufacturers (part one)"
Gareth Davies, ''World Automotive Manufacturing'', Issue no.66, February 2004
"Magical Mystery Tour - Rolf Eckrodt new Mitsubishi Motors Corp. chief operating officer"
Katherine Zachary with Alisa Priddle'',

Ward's AutoWorld Ward's is an American organization that has covered the automotive industry for over 80 years. The organization is responsible for several publications including, ''Ward's AutoWorld'', and ''Ward's Dealer Business''. Ward's also publish the an ...

'', February 1, 2002 Z {{modern-auto-stub