Is This a Sign of the Next Mitsubishi Evolution?

After Mitsubishi broke everyone’s hearts by saying it would not be continuing the Evolution, then changing its mind and stating that it would likely come up with a dramatic, new version of the rally-inspired car, automotive enthusiasts have been looking for every last clue about what the new Evo will be like.

The automaker recently revealed a concept vehicle that will be debuting in Gran Turismo 6, called the Concept XR-PHEV Evolution Vision Gran Turismo. Of course, since the name “Evolution” is in there, suspicions as well as hopes have been raised that the future of the Evo is in the car that so far only exists in a video game. The angry, futuristic look of the concept car is influenced heavily by the XR-PHEV plug-in hybrid concept crossover Mitsubishi showed off in Tokyo in 2013. The company already stated that the concept’s grille will influence the look of the new crop of vehicles coming out.

Among the juicy details of the concept is that is has a carbon fiber body and a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Mitsubishi is staying mum on the car’s output and performance figures, but considering its wild looks they should be pretty impressive. The automaker did reveal the car comes with all-wheel drive as well as an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.

In the recent past, Mitsubishi has dropped some not-so-subtle hints that the new generation of the Evolution will be a gasoline-electric hybrid. Lest everyone think that means the car will be like another Toyota Prius, remember that the LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, and McLaren P1 are also hybrids and do not hog the left lane of the highway while traveling 50 mph.