There’s no mystery about what will be the best value ute at the Mystery Creek National Agricultural Fieldays, says Mitsubishi.

Auckland Motors Mitsubishi dealer principal Mark Barton earned a place in history when he won a Diamond Dealer award at the auto company’s black tie awards evening at Taupo on Friday (27 April).

The “smart grid” concept - large-scale use of rechargeable batteries to avoid costly peak-demand electricity - has come a step nearer reality.

At the 2012 Geneva Auto Show’s 6 March press day, former UK car trader turned TV presenter/motoring journalist Mike Brewer had plenty to say to the camera about the all-new next-model Outlander, due in New Zealand in 2013.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will enter the i-MiEV Prototype in the 2012 edition (July 8) of the legendary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb held annually in Colorado in the United States. The i-MiEV Prototype is a prototype based on the MMC’s all-electric i-MiEV model, the first 100% electric vehicle (EV) to go into mass production and is already on the road in Japan, Europe and North America, with plans to expand to other markets.

Mitsubishi Motors is to debut its all-new Outlander at the Geneva International Motor Show on March 6.

The latest version of the popular 5/7-seat SUV - which has attracted over 7,000 New Zealand owners since it arrived here in 2006 - is expected to be eco-friendlier than ever, with fuel efficiency and CO2 emission levels among the best in its class.

The new-generation Outlander will be sold first in Russia, in the northern summer, and is targeted to arrive in New Zealand in late 2012, with a choice of high-efficiency  petrol and diesel engines. Variants using Mitsubishi’s Plug-in Hybrid EV system will follow.

Depending on model, new Outlander’s advanced safety technologies include FCM (forward collision mitigation system), which brakes the car when it detects an obstacle on the road, and ACC (adaptive cruise control system), which maintains a safe distance from the car ahead, even in heavy traffic.

The Central North Island regional team won bragging rights at the recent Mitsubishi Motors Paralympics NZ National Championships at Hamilton,  regaining the team trophy they last won 20 years ago.

But it was a mainlander, equestrian Frances Dick, who won the Mitsubishi  Motors Trophy for the championships’ most outstanding performance. Frances, who has a condition called hemiplegia - paralysis to one side of the body and  impaired muscle function - finished with gold medals in four events.

Frances trains six mornings a week with her thoroughbred cross Oxford Belle and coach Rachel Thomas on her family's property in the Pig Valley, near Wakefield, before heading  off to put in some time with the YMCA’s after school care programme or Nelson CCS.

Her dream of competing at the 2012 London Paralympics is getting closer to being  a reality: she has already qualified (at an event in Hartpury, England earlier this year) and now needs to maintain her form. To make the cut, she needs to be ranked  among the top riders in her grade worldwide.

The bubbly 28-year-old is not short of confidence that she can make it. "I'm always  good with goals – if I know what I've got to do. I'm quite structured like that, so  that helps me."

The bi-annual championships, which attracted 160 athletes from across the country,  has shown itself to be a breeding ground for future Paralympians.  Frances is determined to be one of them.

Working with specialist Japanese companies, Mitsubishi will by mid-2012 add to its lineup of proprietary plant-based "Green Plastic" products a new type of floor mat, made using plant-based bio-polyethylene (bio-PE) fibre.

Bio-PE is a plant-based resin made from sugarcane molasses, a thick syrup produced in refining raw sugar. With an eye on using less petroleum-based plastics and cutting CO2 emissions, Mitsubishi has developed the fibre for use in floor mat piling. The new fibre has a core-sheath structure: a bio-PE core is sheathed in conventional petroleum-based polypropylene , allowing it  to meet the required high levels of abrasion and heat resistance performance.

Mitsubishi calculates that the new floor mat achieves a 15 percent cut  in life-cycle CO2 emissions over mats made from polypropylene fibre only.

Petroleum-based plastics are widely used in car parts, and  Mitsubishi is  developing a series of plant-based "Green Plastics" to replace them. Current  Green Plastics products include materials made from liquefied wood-based  phenolic resins and interior surface materials which combine PET  (polyethylene terephthalate) and cotton fibres.

For the first time, Mitsubishi will launch a new global vehicle in the heart of the demanding European market.