The name Mitsubishi is pretty much known world-wide as an excellent Japanese car manufacturer. Yet here in Canada, they seem to have been struggling to get the recognition that they deserve.

This puzzles me a little, as I come from Europe, where the Mitsubishi name is almost legendary.

I can still remember their Shogun / Montero 4x4 model, which won the European 4x4 of the Year Award for years in succession. It was a great off-roader. I know, I competed in 4x4 trials against many of them, and often came off the loser in my "British" rig.

On the road, it was as good, if not better than most of the other Japanese players.

When the company decided to bring the 2 door version of that model over to North America in the 80's, they joint-marketed it as a Dodge Raider...it totally flopped!!

The funny thing is, the people who did purchase them rave about how good they were, and you still see the occasional one on the road, which is a testament to their longevity.

When Mitsubishi decided to come into Canada under their own nameplate, few had ever heard of them. Although they had been producing vehicles since the 1920's, and have a sound reputation, it was hard, at first, to convince Canadians that they weren't a start-up operation.

Slowly, the word is getting out, and sales are now picking up nicely for the company. I see them "going places" in the near future.

Much of this is being driven by proven products like their sporty Lancer, and their well-priced small SUV, the Outlander. Later this year, the company is even set to launch on us their "world famous" Lancer Evolution 10!

Mitsubishi is also doing very well in terms of new dealership enquiries, with 14 new dealers added in 2006, and another 15 coming this year. Starting a new dealership today doesn't exactly cost "chicken feed", and so there are obviously a few shrewd people in the industry who share my views on the company's future.

I'm truly looking forward to getting behind the wheel of an Evo, but until then, I'm going to give you my thoughts on the 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander.

Now this vehicle boasts a lot of stuff, but probably the first item that I should mention, is that it is the most affordable 6 cylinder Japanese SUV on the market. It also has more horsepower / torque than any other vehicle in its class.

That's impressive, but it takes a lot to win the hearts and minds of the Canadian SUV buyer. With that in mind, Mitsubishi has added a whole host of available goodies to the vehicle which you don't typically see in this price segment, and then topped it off with one of the best warranties in the business.