Mitsubishi Philippines refreshes trademarks on Lancer and Galant names

Mitsubishi Philippines on March 18, 2020, filed a trademark for the Lancer name here in the country. This suggests that the brand might just be planning to revive its popular compact sedan in the country. The filed trademark has no date of expiration which could indicate that the new model will be sticking around for a while in the Philippine automotive market.

Back in 2015, the Lancer was quietly retired from the Mitsubishi lineup along with its performance version the Evo. Mitsubishi Philippines’s CEO at the time stated that the Lancer model would not return for another generation in the Philippine market. A few years later there was a bit of hope after the Japanese brand stated that the name will remain active but it will be used for a different vehicle rumored to be a crossover. After that Mitsubishi even teased that a revival could happen thanks to its partnership with Renault with the Megane sedan as its base.

It is important to note that the Lancer is still around in Taiwan under the Grand Lancer nameplate. It is still based on the previous generation but comes with a facelifted front, a new engine, and a facelifted rear end. It also now sports the brand’s dynamic shield design language. 

Mitsubishi Philippines also filed the Galant trademark as well. While its registration isn’t as recent (it was filed back on Feb 24, 2020) as the Lancer’s it still could indicate that a new model is coming or that the Japanese brand just wants to keep the rights to the name.

Another possibility is, similar to what happened to that of the Eclipse, the Galant name could be used for a crossover instead. The last generation of the Galant was produced in 2012 with no local successor thereafter. But using the nameplate for a new model could spark interest within the local automotive market. With these two nameplates under its control, Mitsubishi Philippines could be planning something big for this year or for 2021 with a revival of these two popular nameplates.