The Mitsubishi Colt is a vehicle built by Mitsubishi Motors

Mitsubishi Motors

is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production...

 since 1962. It was first introduced as a series of kei car

Kei car

Kei cars, K-cars, or , are a Japanese category of small vehicles, including passenger cars, vans, and pickup trucks. They are designed to comply with Japanese government tax and insurance regulations, and in most rural areas are exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is...

s and subcompact car

Subcompact car

Subcompact car is a North American term used to describe automobiles whose class size is smaller than that of a compact car, usually not exceeding in length, but larger than a microcar...

s in the 1960s, and then as the export version of the Mitsubishi Mirage

Mitsubishi Mirage

Mitsubishi launched the Mirage as a three-door front wheel drive hatchback in 1978, as a response to the first fuel crisis some years before. It had a distinctive design with large windows and Mitsubishi's Super Shift transmission . A five-door joined the range in 1979...

 hatchback

Hatchback

A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...

 in the 1980s and 1990s. The Chrysler Corporation, Mitsubishi's longtime partner, also used the name in the 1970 when it rebadged the second generation Mitsubishi Galant

Mitsubishi Galant

The first generation of the car, initially known as the Colt Galant, was released in December 1969. The design was dubbed "Dynawedge" by Mitsubishi, referring to the influence of aerodynamics on the silhouette. Three models were available, powered by the new 'Saturn' engine in 1.3 or 1.5 L ...

 as Dodge Colt

Dodge Colt

The Dodge Colt and the similar Plymouth Champ and Plymouth Colt, were subcompact cars sold by Dodge and Plymouth from 1970 to 1994. They were captive imports from Mitsubishi Motors, initially twins of the rear-wheel drive Galant and Lancer families before shifting to the smaller front-wheel drive...

 and Plymouth Colt captive import

Captive import

Captive import is a marketing term and a strategy for an automobile part or entire vehicle that is foreign-built and sold under the name of an importer or by a domestic automaker through its own dealer distribution system....

s for the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 market. The most recent version is a supermini

Supermini

A superminicomputer, or supermini, is “a minicomputer with high performance compared to ordinary minicomputers.” The term was an invention used from the mid-1970s mainly to distinguish the emerging 32-bit minis from the classical 16-bit minicomputers...

 manufactured in Japan at Okazaki and in Europe at their NedCar

NedCar

NedCar, officially Netherlands Car B.V. and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors, is the only large-scale automaker in the Netherlands. Based in Born on a 927,000 m2 site, it has a capacity of approximately 200,000 vehicles, and produced its millionth vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space Star, on October...

 plant in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, using the same underpinnings as its sister car, the now discontinued Smart Forfour

Smart Forfour

The Smart Forfour was a supermini produced by Smart between April 2004 and June 2006. Unlike the other models of the marque, the Forfour was a more conventional five-door hatchback with a relatively roomy interior, available as a four-/five-seater....

.
Mitsubishi introduced the "Colt" name in 1962 on the Colt 600, the first of a line of small, sporty vehicles complementing their Mitsubishi 500

Mitsubishi 500

-History:The Mitsubishi 500 was the first passenger car produced after the Second World War by Shin Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, Ltd, one of the companies which would become Mitsubishi Motors. First shown at the 1959 Tokyo Motor Show, it became available in 1960 at a cost of ¥390,000...

, the company's first post-war passenger car.