The is a

luxury Luxury may refer to: * Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...

sedan manufactured by

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

Dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...

(itself a lengthened version of the Proudia) in the company's range. Its name is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words"Luxury sedan and limousine models"
, Mitsubishi Motors press release, December 20, 1999 The first generation was produced from late 1999 to 2001, while the second generation (a

rebadge In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...

d second-generation Nissan Fuga) was produced from 2012 to 2016. __TOC__

First generation (S32A/S33A; 1999)

The Proudia/Dignity range was designed by Mitsubishi Motors and co-manufactured with

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

of South Korea, who marketed their own version as the

Hyundai Equus The Hyundai Equus () is a full-size, front-engine, rear-drive, four-door, five passenger luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by Hyundai from 1999 to 2016. The name ''" equus"'' is the Latin word for "horse". In 2009, Hyundai released the sec ...

from 1999 to 2009. The Proudia was introduced as a competitor to the

Nissan Cima The is a luxury sedan produced by Nissan for the Japanese market. The car's name is derived from Spanish for "summit". Earlier generations installed a hood ornament with an image of an acanthus leaf. The acanthus leaf was commonly used by class ...

and the

Toyota Crown Majesta The is a full-size luxury sedan from Toyota. It is an upmarket variant of the Crown and serves as Toyota's flagship model in various countries. The Crown Majesta appeared after the international introduction of the Celsior/Lexus LS in late 1 ...

as a

full-size Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. Af ...

luxury car A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...

, however Mitsubishi chose to use a transversely installed engine with

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longit ...

. The Proudia came in three specifications labeled A, B, or C. The A and B types were powered by Mitsubishi's '' 6G74'' 3,497 cc

GDi GDI may refer to: Science and technology * Gasoline direct injection, a type of fuel injection * Graphics Device Interface, a component of Microsoft Windows * Guanosine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor, a protein Organisations * Gabriel Dumont I ...

V6 engine producing at 5,500 rpm and of torque at 2,500 rpm, while the type C specification was powered by the '' 8A80'' 4,498 cc GDi V8 engine producing at 5,000 rpm and of torque at 4,000 rpm. The car was equipped with several features like

CCD camera A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

s to monitor adjacent lanes and behind the car, and a

lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

activated

adaptive cruise control Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is an available cruise control Advanced driver-assistance systems, advanced driver-assistance system for road vehicles that automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead. As ...

. It used

MacPherson struts The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles, and is named for American automotive engineer Ear ...

for the front suspension and a

multi-link suspension A multi-link suspension is a type of vehicle suspension with one or more longitudinal arms. A wider definition can consider any independent suspensions having three control links or more multi-link suspensions. These arms do not have to be of eq ...

for the rear wheels. The Dignity and Proudia's combined volumes fell far shy of Mitsubishi's estimated 300 sales per month, and they were available for only fifteen months from their introduction on February 20, 2000, before Mitsubishi's financial difficulties forced the company to discontinue both models in an effort to streamline its range and reduce costs. Production was discontinued after only 1,227 vehicles were produced during three years. On the contrary, the Equus proved more commercially successful and would remain in production until replaced in 2008.

Production and sales

''(Sources
Fact & Figures 2000Fact & Figures 2005
Mitsubishi Motors website)''

Second generation (BY51; 2012)

In early 2012, Mitsubishi Motors was cooperating with

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

to sell their own version of the second-generation Nissan Fuga under the Proudia name after an 11-year hiatus, and sales of the Fuga-based Proudia started July 26, 2012. A stretched wheelbase

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

version was also sold as the

. Compared to its predecessor, the height is slightly higher; however the length and width have been reduced, resulting in a reduced weight. In addition, all models were in compliance with the 2005 emission standards, resulting in a 75% reduction level over the previous model. The Proudia trim packages were aligned with the Fuga counterparts. The Proudia 250 is equivalent of the Fuga 250GT, along with the 250 VIP to the Fuga 250 VIP, the 370 VIP to the Fuga 370 VIP, and the 370 4WD to the Fuga 370 GT Four. The 4WD model also marked the first time the Proudia had been offered with

all-wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one w ...

. The hybrid engine option offered on the Fuga was not offered on the Proudia, and was only available on the longer Dignity limousine. The Proudia is cosmetically different from the Fuga, using a Mitsubishi specific grille and appearance items. Many of the items in the Fuga were also available in the Proudia, to include the pollen filter, Nissan's "Safety Shield" packages, such as intelligent cruise control, ECO pedal, intelligent brake assist, with optional items on Nissan-branded products also available on equivalent Proudia trim packages. Nissan's Garnet Black Pearl paint was not offered on the Proudia, with Mitsubishi offered a different color. Some of the optional interior equipment includes heated and ventilated front seats, power reclining rear seats, power ottoman for the rear passenger opposite the driver, and HDD navigation combined with a

telematics Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies ( road transport, road safety, etc.), electrical engineering (sensors, instrumentation, wireless communications, etc.), and computer science (multimedi ...

subscription service called "

CarWings CarWings, renamed NissanConnect in 2015, and also branded as Infiniti InTouch is a vehicle telematics service offered by the Nissan Motor Company to drivers in Japan, the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and most other countries where the LE ...

" in Japan. The Proudia/Dignity nameplates were discontinued for the second time in November 2016.

References

External links

Proudia data
{{Mitsubishi Motors timeline 2010 to date Proudia Cars introduced in 1999 2000s cars 2010s cars Full-size vehicles Executive cars Sedans Front-wheel-drive vehicles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Cars of Japan

First generation (S32A/S33A; 1999)

Production and sales

Second generation (BY51; 2012)

See also

References

External links