What is Ralliart?
Mitsubishi's high-performance and motorsport division, behind its rally program and Ralliart-badged road cars.
Ralliart is the high-performance division of Mitsubishi Motors. It ran the company's rally program and developed high-performance models and parts for the public. Its European arm began as Andrew Cowan Motorsports, set up in 1983 in Rugby, England, by Mitsubishi rally driver Andrew Cowan, and his former teammate Doug Stewart started Ralliart Australia in 1988.
Ralliart Europe entered the World Rally Championship full time in 1989 with the Galant VR-4 and introduced the Lancer Evolution in 1993. Tommi Mäkinen won four straight drivers' titles from 1996 to 1999, and Mitsubishi took the 1998 manufacturers' title while still running cars built to the older Group A homologation rules, even as rivals moved to World Rally Cars. In the Dakar Rally, the team won with the Pajero every year from 2004 to 2007, part of a record 12 Dakar wins since 1982.
Mitsubishi also uses the name as a halo badge for sportier versions of its models and for aftermarket parts. In North America, the Lancer Ralliart arrived in 2004 and slotted between the regular Lancer and the Evolution. Ralliart scaled back its business in April 2010, and on May 13, 2021, Mitsubishi executives announced the brand would come back.