2000 TOPICS

Dr. Rakuzo Mitamura, President of Ralliart Japan inc, Peter Collinson Managing Director of Ralliart UK and Stephen Blackburn General Manager of Vehicle Planning and Supply for Mitsubishi Motors in the UK at the launch of Ralliart UK's dealership in Dudley

President Dr. Rakuzo Mitamura of Ralliart Inc Japan officially opened the doors of Ralliart UK’s vast new West Midlands premises in Dudley today (13 June 2000). Ralliart Inc is the high-performance and motorsport arm of Mitsubishi Motors. It is responsible for the World Championship Lancer Evolution rally cars - as driven by Mitsubishis four-times World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen - and the equally desirable Ralliart road car range.

Ralliart UK will be one of a number of Mitsubishi Motors Ralliart dealers in the United Kingdom offering new and used Ralliart vehicles. Recently control of the UK Ralliart import and sales operation moved directly to Mitsubishi Motors in the United Kingdom so it runs alongside the normal import and sales operations already in place.

"Our investment in this new facility reflects the tremendous growth and demand for Mitsubishi Ralliart products in the United Kingdom", explains Jon Kirkham, Managing Director. "We are delighted to be able to step up a gear to provide an even higher level of service to our customers. In addition to sales and servicing we have unparalleled knowledge of Mitsubishi Ralliart products and can carry out performance tuning on customer cars ranging from our Stage One engine conversion to a full race specification build, including matched suspension and brakes".

From left to right: Dr. Rakuzo Mitamura, President of Ralliart Japan inc, Peter Collinson and John Kirkham, joint Managing Directors of Ralliart UK

With a total area of 44,000 sq ft, the new showroom incorporates an Internet caf. An equally large used car showroom, a staggering 22 service bays and 15,000 sq ft parts warehouse complete this flagship facility.

Ralliart UK provides sales and service for all Ralliart models available in the United Kingdom.

One of the keys to success of Ralliart UK in Dudley is its ability to create special editions of existing Mitsubishi Ralliart products for the United Kingdom market. These range from the top specification Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI eXtreme, which is built from the ground up, to the recently introduced RSX model - the base version of the 280 bhp Evolution VI road-going rally car.