Maybe this is a late response, but maybe the Outlander's sales were poor because it was, well, Outlandish?

But seriously, the Outlander's story is just like the Lancer's. It's a competent vehicle in a very crowded segment, and it doesn't come out on top in any category of comparison, well, at least not to buyers put off by the name tag or the nose.

Mitsubishi really should have brought in the turbo as a halo vehicle for the range, and considered selling down-specced 2.0 manual models to boost their demographic target and budget range.