Mitsubishi has a winning hand

In November, the newly released Mitsubishi 380 was judged best in its large car class by the combined motoring clubs of Australia - the RAA, RACQ, NRMA, RACV, RACT, RAC and AA of Northern Territory.

The judges said; "Mitsubishi finally has a winning hand after years of spruiking tired models."

"The motoring clubs' opinions are highly respected among their membership and I know that the real world road exercises they put the cars through during their judging is particularly exacting," new Mitsubishi president and CEO Robert McEniry said.

"Tom Phillips and his team have every right to be proud of the car they have put into the market place.

"The 380 has arguably the most space-efficient interior, more than adequate power tempered with class-leading fuel economy, sporty and agile handling, and levels of refinement and quality previously only found in expensive imported cars.

" The team that worked especially hard to bring this car to market, including the factory floor workers . . . have every reason to feel especially proud today that their efforts have been recognised with this prestigious award. "I don't think they (workers) are surprised that we've got the award because they know the work that goes into building the car and they know the car is good . . . this is really the icing on the cake," Mitsubishi's manager of manufacturing, human resources, Alan Harrison said.

The judges said the 380 offered plenty on the road.

They also rated Mitsubishi's 5/10 warranty as "mighty" and said maintenance, repair and insurance outlays were low.

The 380 was judged against the Hyundai Sonata Elite, Ford Falcon XT BA Series II, Holden Commodore VZ Executive and Toyota Camry Altise Ltd for the award.

The only other Australian-built car to score in the Australia's Best Cars awards was the Ford Territory Ghia which won Best Recreational 4WD for the second year in a row.