This is a Mitsubishi Grandis, seen in east Beijing in May 2017. The Japanese minivan was in great shape, painted in Orient Red Metallic and still fitted with the original five-spoke alloy wheels.
The Mitsubishi Grandis was manufactured in Japan from 2003 until 2011 with a facelift in 2007. The car in the photos is a post-facelift example. It has darkened windows and shiny door handles.
The Mitsubishi was quite a luxurious vehicle, with leather seats and wood trim on the dashboard and doors. It has an audio system with a CD player and a radio. The gear lever is located just below the center stack.
The Mitsubishi Grandis was officially sold in China as an import from 2004 until 2011. In its final year, the price ranged from 262.000 to 298.000 yuan. This was expensive compared to locally-made minivans, so sales were slow and the Grandis has always been a rare car in China. The Chinese name was 格蓝迪, Gélándí, a phonetic translation of Grandis.
That’s a beautiful font! The China-spec Grandis was powered by the well-known Mitsubishi Sirius 2.4 liter gasoline engine. The output was 165 hp and 216 Nm. The engine was mated to a 4-speed automatic gearbox, sending horses to the front wheels. The top speed was 190 km/h and 0-100 took 9.9 seconds. Mitsubishi offered the Grandis with 6 or seven seats. The engine of the Grandis is relatively easy to maintain in China because the 2.4 liter engine was also produced locally, by Shenyang-Mitsubishi, and used by many Chinese automakers.