Mitsubishi Motors South Africa (MMSA) is gearing up for the August launch of the Mirage, to be introduced as part of a programme to expand the brand’s local footprint.

The entry-level, five-door, three-model Japanese hatchback range will compete in the budget- and youth-focused A-segment.

"Mitsubishi is renowned all over the world as one of Japan's foremost automotive brands and we are on a resurgence in the South African market," says MMSA GM Wynand Pretorius.

"With the new Mirage, the brand will be entering the A-segment for the very first time in South Africa, and with a fun little car at that,” he adds.

“We exhibited the new Mirage at last year's Johannesburg International Motor Show, where we received extremely positive responses from show-goers.

“In these increasingly difficult economic times, it makes all the sense in the world to introduce our new supermini, which will be very competitively priced.

"In this vein, we are taking a strong approach on the viability of Mirage as an entry-level vehicle, specifically targeting a market where purchase price, fuel efficiency and ownership costs play vital, determining roles in the buying process.”

All the Mirage derivatives will be powered by Mitsubishi’s 1.2 l, three-cylinder petrol engine, mated with a five-speed manual transmission.

Average fuel economy on the combined cycle is promised as 4.9 l/100 km.

Pretorius says Mirage is acclaimed as the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid petrol vehicle available in the US, aided by the fact that is also the lightest five-door, five-passenger car in this market.

The Mirage comes standard with keyless entry, antilock brakes, electronic brakeforce distribution and dual airbags, packaged around Mitsubishi’s impact-absorbing chassis structure.

The new Mitsubishi Mirage will be backed by MMSA’s three-year/100 000 km warranty.

Pricing will be announced at the vehicle’s launch in August.