The new Mitsubishi Colt is a striking hatchback with Japanese pedigree of the French sort

Singapore - During the early 80s and into the late 90s, the Mitsubishi Colt was almost everywhere. A small hatchback for the masses. Mitsubishi even built hot hatch versions… well because back in the day there’s that Golf GTI too.

So, the new Colt is based on Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-B architecture, which the Clio is built on… Wait, isn’t this a Clio with a 3-sided diamond badge plastered on? Well, yes it is. But I have to admit, it is rather striking.

The badge-engineered hatchback features the Mitsubishi Motors Dynamic Shield design, which sits between full LED headlamps above the front bumper. Below this, a pair of stylised inverted L-shaped LED DRLs break bumper monotony. At the rear, similar L-shaped mouldings are there to match the front.

Three power options are available, a full petrol hybrid, which has a 1.6-litre engine, paired with an alternator starter and a main drive motor. The second, is a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, paired with a 6-speed manual. The base offering comes with an N.A. 1.0-litre, bunged with a 5-speed manual.

So here is the interesting bit. Depending on the version, Mitsubishi says that the new Colt can come equipped with Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go (ACC), Forward Collision Mitigation system (FCM), Automatic High Beam (AHB) and Rear Cross Traffic Alert among its features.

No news for Singapore yet. But the 1.6 hybrid certainly looks interesting.