Mitsubishi i

The Mitsubishi i is a kei car from Mitsubishi Motors, first released in January 2006, twenty-eight months after its debut at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was the first four-door automobile since the 1960s to use a rear-midship layout with the engine behind the passengers, aimed at better safety and interior space without a larger body. Its 3B20 three-cylinder 659 cc engine, with an aluminium block, double overhead camshafts and MIVEC valve timing, sat just ahead of the rear axle, first turbocharged and from 2007 naturally aspirated, driving the rear or all four wheels through a four-speed automatic. Mass production began at the Mizushima plant in Kurashiki in December 2005 and it beat its sales target in its first month. It won thirteen awards in its first year including the 2006 Good Design Grand Prize, inspired a Hello Kitty special edition and was the basis of the 2009 i-MiEV.