Put like that, the decline looks bad, right? But 200,000 folk buying or leasing a new car every month in 2018 was hardly disastrous, was it? Remember that the vast majority of our European neighbours sold only tens or hundreds of thousands of cars to their citizens last year. Britain remains second only to Germany in the European car sales league. You got a problem with that? Jaguar (four per cent UK increase in ’18 vs ’17), McLaren (10 per cent up) and MG (104 per cent higher) did great last year. Abarth of Italy; Korea’s Kia; Japan’s Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru; SEAT of Spain and Volvo of Sweden all saw rises, too. True, several firms at the competitive volume end of the market (where makers each sell or lease 100,000-200,000 discounted cars annually to UK consumers) are on a downer. Nissan, for example, plummeted a painful 32 per cent last year, ahead of Audi (minus 18 per cent), Ford (down 12 per cent) and Vauxhall (minus nine per cent). Other members of the 100,000-Plus Club - Volkswagen, Mercedes, Toyota and BMW - also went backwards. But it’s mainly these high-volume producers - not producers per se - who did worse in ’18 than ’17. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders told me some customers are plain scared to invest in brand new diesel cars for fear of national or local politicians waging war against them. So they’re playing safe by sticking with their existing models for the time being. Who can blame them for their caution and lack of confidence? Or to put all that another way, 99.3 per cent of the nearly 2.4m new cars sold in 2018 rely - in full or in part- on petrol or diesel fuel, with only 0.7 per cent running solely on electricity. The cold, harsh truth is that in 2018, Britain still couldn’t quite reach the point where one in every 100 new cars sold was a pure EV. That’s shocking and unsustainable.
Myk Belmonte assures you that. The Japanese and Europeans love and appreciate MPVs and Minivans. And what is not to love them? More room for their toes and legs, the easy ingress/egress (almost similar to an airplane cabin), and sliding doors for easier access anywhere. So bad that these types of vehicles receive a bad name, which they have good flexibility and practicality than an SUV. Aiming to replace the Chariot/Space Wagon/Nimbus line of MPVs, the Grandis was introduced in 2003 and sold in various Asian, European, Oceania, Central American, and Southern American markets. This vehicle signaled the usage of Mitsubishi's new corporate face which can be described as "triangled shape". The corporate face was designed by Oliver Boulay (he is no longer connected with Mitsubishi nowadays). This vehicle was the basis of the Mitsubishi FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle). 2009 saw the cancellation in its home market and 2011 for the rest of the world. With this vehicle being discontinued recently, you can get a second hand Grandis for P500,000-P900,000. Some of them (especially the 2009-2011 models) have remaining basic warranties on it.
Better pay attention on the vehicle condition rather than the year model, since changes are not limited than cosmetic changes. There also exist a Grandis nameplate - wherein fact these are named as the "Chariot Grandis" in Japan and they are priced lower, and they are not related with the Grandis in this article. Thinking that the Grandis has expensive maintenance costs? It's just a myth. Costs of maintaining this MPV is similar to minivans and similar vehicles of the same time period. Although no major problems are being reported, minor things to check include the common wear-and-tear pieces (such as the suspension, interior bits, and mechanical parts). And since a DVD player slash TV Tuner with radio comes standard, best to have it checked for any deficiencies so kids won't complain. You can agree with me that this MPV is stylish and its exterior resembles an egg. The corporate grille blends well with the rest of the body; this part brightens up the huge, but dull looking slab-sided scallop doors. Notice the long, low snout? This part gives out a dash of modernity and looks clean.
