Sand Hare at the Micro Level
The Japan Mobility Show is filled to the brim with major car news. But there is also small news. Both literally and figuratively. This is the new Mitsubishi Delica Mini and it lives up to its name.
The news from Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Subaru and Mazda has been flying around your ears in recent days. Each of them brought a lot of car news to the exhibition floor of the Japan Mobility Show. Mitsubishi also had something to announce. It showed an interesting conceptual large plug-in hybrid SUV there. Mitsubishi also has news at the other end of the SUV spectrum. This is considerably smaller in nature and is also reflected in the model name of the newcomer. This is the Mitsubishi Delica Mini.
Mitsubishi first used the Delica designation in 1968. Not on an SUV-like vehicle, but on a commercial vehicle whose descendants such as the L300 and later the L400/Space Gear came to the Netherlands. Those models have not been available for years, but in Japan the Delica line never stopped. In 2006 came the Delica D:5, a now old SUV-like MPV that is still available. In the form of the Delica D:3, Mitsubishi sold its own version of the Nissan Evalia/NV300 and there is even a Delica D:2 derivative of a compact Suzuki. In 2022, Mitsubishi translated the Delica recipe to the kei-car segment by introducing the Delica Mini. That finally brings us to what this article is about: its successor.
Mitsubishi Delica Mini next to a stuffed toy with the same facial expression.
The new Mitsubishi Delica Mini is 3.4 meters short and, like its predecessor, has an alter-ego called eK Space. That one is also angular, but doesn’t look nearly as rugged as the Delica Mini. The tall kei-car has sliding doors whose rails are cleverly hidden. They form a boundary between the angular black trim around the rear wheel arches. Mitsubishi shares an image showing the Delica Mini next to a stuffed toy (?) that has virtually the same facial expression. There are front-wheel and four-wheel drive versions. Regardless of the chosen variant, they have a maximum of 64 hp and are equipped with a CVT.