The Mitsubishi Carisma was a

large family car The D-segment is the 4th category of the European segments for passenger cars, and is described as "large cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "large family car" size class, and the present-day definition of the mid-size car category use ...

produced for the European market by

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Large Family Cars
EuroNCAP The model name was derived from a combination of the English '' car'' and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''kharisma'', meaning "divine gift".Fact & Figures 2005
, p.33, Mitsubishi Motors website It was co-developed with

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

, sharing its

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpar ...

with the first generation of the

Volvo S40 The Volvo S40 is a series of compact and subcompact executive automobiles marketed and produced by the Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars from 1995 to 2012. The first generation (1995–2004) was introduced in 1995 with the S40 (S from saloon) ...

, and 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 ...

factory 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 Mitsubi ...

, which the two companies co-owned at the time. Over 350,000 were built during its production run. Volume production begun in May 1995 with sales starting in Holland in June. The four-door saloon sales started the following year."A question of carisma"
Yahoo Cars, October 6, 2004

Development

Available as a four door saloon or a five door

hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...

style only, it featured inline four petrol engines from 1.3 L (introduced later in life) to 1.8 L, 1.8 L direct injection petrol engine from 1998, and 1.9 L

turbo-diesel The term turbo-diesel, also written as turbodiesel and turbo diesel, refers to any diesel engine equipped with a turbocharger. As with other engine types, turbocharging a diesel engine can significantly increase its efficiency and power output, ...

powerplants sourced from

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

, later with the 1.9 DI-D

common rail Common rail direct fuel injection is a direct fuel injection system built around a high-pressure (over ) fuel rail feeding solenoid valves, as opposed to a low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors (or pump nozzles). High-pressure injecti ...

diesel engine, the same as used in both Volvo and Renault cars. Mitsubishi claimed the 1.8 GDI engine offered a 20% saving in fuel consumption, 10% increase in power and 20% decrease in greenhouse gases when compared to a conventional 1.8 petrol engine. Mitsubishi Carisma rear 20071205

The Carisma had a fairly neutral design as a result of being Mitsubishi's first attempt to target the traditionally conservative European company car market, where it competed with the likes of the

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car manufactured by Ford since 1993. The first Ford model declared as a " world car", the Mondeo was intended to consolidate several Ford model lines worldwide (the European Sierra, the Telstar in Asia and Aus ...

."Mitsubishi Carisma Used Car review"
Jason Dawe, ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', 17 October 2004 The Carisma was facelifted in 1999, with the new models being launched in the UK on the 1st of August. This included a new front end, interior, boot lid and rear lights. It also featured ABS as standard, a wider front track and uprated suspension. The car underwent a very light redesign again in 2002, with the main difference being new tinted headlights, new alloy wheel designs and black front grilles, instead of chrome. The car was placed between the

Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the ...

and the

Galant The galant style was an 18th-century movement in music, visual arts and literature. In Germany a closely related style was called the '' empfindsamer Stil'' (sensitive style). Another close relative is rococo style. The galant style was drawn in ...

, although after production ended in December 2004, the Lancer took its place in Mitsubishi's European range. In several markets where the Lancer was not available, the

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

version was rebadged as the Mitsubishi Carisma GT. In Japan, the Carisma was sold at a specific retail chain called '' Car Plaza''. It was only available for 1996 and 1997 as a 1.8 saloon, with trim levels being L, LX and LS. The chassis was also used by

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

to develop the

Proton Waja The Proton Waja is a saloon car manufactured by Malaysian automotive company, Proton, first released in May 2000. The name ''Waja'', which means ''(strong as) steel'' in Malay has both physical and abstract connotations. In the United Kingdom ...

Production and sales

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

Gallery

File:1998 Mitsubishi Carisma GL 1.6.jpg, Carisma (1995–1999) File:1997 Mistubishi Carisma GLS GDi 1.8 Rear.jpg, Carisma (1995–1999) File:1999 Mitsubishi Carisma Elegance GDi 1.8.jpg, Carisma (1999–2002) File:Mitsubishi Carisma GDI Facelift Heck.JPG, Carisma (1999–2002) File:2004 Mitsubishi Carisma Equippe 1.6 Front.jpg, Carisma (2002–2004) File:2004 Mitsubishi Carisma Equippe 1.6 Rear.jpg, Carisma (2002–2004) File:Black Mitsubishi Carisma sedan (cropped).jpg, Carisma Saloon (1995–1999) File:Mitsubishi Carisma sedan.jpg, Carisma Saloon (1999–2002)

Engines

References

{{Mitsubishi Motors timeline (Europe) 1980 to date Carisma Euro NCAP large family cars Cars of the Netherlands Cars introduced in 1995 2000s cars VDL Nedcar vehicles Touring cars