It’s easy to get carried away by the hype of an all-new vehicle launch. And that’s what car brands want you to feel after seeing their latest offering roll onto the stage. 

Let’s take the all-new Mitsubishi XForce, for example. Sure, it looks appealing, has a handsome design, and even a well-endowed feature set. But what if we said Mitsubishi ensured its latest offering had some other tricks up its sleeve for good measure?

At a Mitsubishi product conference Autofun Philippines attended on the second day of the GAIKINDO Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS), Mitsubishi executives led by Masahiro Ito, Chief Product Specialist, and Naoki Akita, Program Design Director, took turns to explain the design concept and rationale of its latest subcompact crossover offering.

According to Ito-san, exterior styling was a high consideration for the XForce. Product research revealed that first-time and additional-car buyers put it as a purchase reason and a gauge of satisfaction with the product.

However, Mitsubishi wanted the XForce to be an exciting product as well, and one of the ways to ensure this was to give the XForce a “futuristic and prestigious feeling." As a realization of this, it equipped the XForce with a 12.3-inch high-resolution display.

A Mitsubishi first

Interestingly, Mitsubishi is quick to hype this new feature as a “First” by the brand. You'll understand why if you’ve owned Mitsubshis in the past decade or two with their outsourced touchscreen units providing infotainment. 

The new infotainment display from the factory has an interesting feature list. Its high resolution allows you to display even a video clip of an aquarium as wallpaper. 

Chinese crossovers have that, too, you say?

Well, how about this? The panel can display various vehicle performance parameters such as vehicle attitude and pitch, steering angle, and a compass. Oh, and it's not just through a modern and futuristic graphic interface. That would be too easy. 

Instead, Mitsubishi again tugs at the heartstrings with a multi-meter information display that is laid out similarly to the first-generation Mitsubishi Pajero's thermometer, inclinometer, and altimeter center dash gauges.

Yeah, those trio of physical gauges housed in a pod that made the Pajero a legendary off-road-ready machine has now been reproduced in animated graphics form for the Mitsubishi XForce. 

Ito-san also said that you could customize which information you want to display and have three different themes to go with it - Adventurous, Responsive, and Reliable.

Bells and whistles galore

But it doesn't stop there. According to Ito-san, the Mitsubishi XForce also has a Driving Score feature built into the infotainment system. 

If you've ever belted out your favorite tunes on a videoke machine and got a score afterward, this is like it, minus the fanfare. 

But it goes beyond growing leaves on trees here. The XForce's Driving Score function assesses your acceleration, steering, and braking inputs and compares this with Mitsubishi's test drivers, who two-time Dakar Rally winner Hiroshi Masuoka supervised. Think of it as having a built-in personal driving coach in the car. Ito-san says you can have fun with your scores even during your daily commute.

Of course, these graphics alone may not be enough to buy the crossover for some, but if you're a Mitsubishi fan, the XForce might be the modern-day subcompact crossover from the brand you'd been waiting for.

Besides, a tablet-sized display alone would already be ideal for many Millennials and Zennials with relatively short attention spans. 

Keep an eye on AutoFun Philippines, as we will soon have a driving first-impressions video about the all-new Mitsubishi XForce.