Mitsubishi Diamante Overview

If the station wagon share of the U.S. new car market is small, then the space taken up in that segment by the luxury wagons is downright minuscule. At the present time, there are only a few players on this tiny field. Depending on your definition of the term luxury wagon, entries can be said to range from the Mercury Sable and Toyota Camry to the Volvo 960 and BMW 525i Touring, ending on the high side with the Mercedes 300TE.

Mitsubishi is something of an upstart among luxury wagon builders. The company name is reasonably well-known, in large part because of a long-standing relationship with Chrysler, but few buyers are as yet aware that Mitsubishi offers a wagon version of its Diamante sedan.

In fact, the Diamante sedan is not exactly a high-profile vehicle, either in concept or in sales figures. That's not to say that it's unattractive. In many respects, the big Mitsubishi 4-door is a class leader, scoring points for comfort, performance and manufacturing quality. The simple fact of the matter is that word of the Diamante's many virtues just hasn't gotten out to the public yet.

What's true for the Diamante sedan applies equally to the wagon. It's an extremely pleasant vehicle, competitive in just about every respect with its more familiar opponents such as the Camry and the Sable.

The fact that the Mitsubishi brand name may lack the panache of some ritzier badges shouldn't deter potential buyers from checking out the features of this entry-level luxury wagon.