The “Delica Style” Packed into a Compact Body

The idea behind the Delica Mini was to achieve the distinctive Delica style in a miniKei-car , equipping it with to the styling of an SUV and safe, secure, and comfortable road performance, even in outdoor environments. In terms of design, we were focused on expressing both a cuteness that everyone would find appealing and a strength that would allow the vehicle to drive on any road.

Mitsubishi Motors’ “Delica Mini”, a super height-wagon Kei-car, won the “Design Car of the Year” award at the 2023–2024 Japan Car of the Year Awards. This is Mitsubishi Motors’ first “Design Car of the Year” award. The design won high praise, with judges noting the significance of “not only bearing the Delica name but also embracing the iconic design elements of the Delica.” As well as clearly reflecting the Delica style has been refined over the 50 years since the car’s launch in 1968, it was also widely embraced and appreciated for its robust yet lovable look, like a mischievous young boy.
One of the basic ideas behind the Delica Mini project was an internal study conducted by the Design Department to come up with a Kei-car that would reflect the distinctive Mitsubishi Motors style. The concept of a Delica mini was born as the participating designers gave free expression to the Mitsubishi Motors style, In the package of the super-height wagon Delica Mini moved to production.
Past generations of the Delica include such famous cars as the 2nd and 3rd generation Star Wagon and the 4th generation Space Gear, both of which were three-row seater minivans. The challenge for this project was how to express that distinctive Delica identity in a Kei-car Goto, who was in charge of exterior design, says, “When designing a Delica that is a Kei-car　and Suitable for the current era, it makes no sense to copy the design of a specific Delica from previous generations.” Rather, in order to take a bottom-up approach, they “analyzed the fundamental elements of what makes a Delica.”

The Delica is a passenger car with big cabin space. The basic premise of the Delica identity is a sense of security and toughness to protect the family. “What the design needs is a robustness (toughness and sturdiness) that gives people the sense of security that, with this car, they can return safely wherever they go. The front profile is particularly important in this respect.”
Previous generations of the Delica have often had bull bars and other eye-catching components mounted in the center of the front end, contributing to its image of power and strength. As Goto points out, “The volume and three-dimensional feel of the front profile is the key to the Delica’s identity.
When you think of Mitsubishi Motors’ front face design, many people may think of the distinctive graphics of the DYNAMIC SHIELD, but the underlying philosophy is to prioritize functionality in order to protect people and the car. DYNAMIC SHIELD is a face design that expresses the toughness and dependability of the car.”

However, because Kei-car have a body size, the body must be used to the full of the specifications in order to provide as much interior space as possible, which tends to result in a flat body shape. So, how to create a three-dimensional design without wasting space? This was the challenge for the Delica Mini.
“The design of front end is particularly constrained by the placement of sensors and radar equipment, as well as the apertures, but we wanted to express strength by giving the central area a sculpted feel, so we took the DYNAMIC SHIELD as a basis and tried everything we could to achieve a sense of volume.”
In terms of the details, too, a three-dimensional block design was adopted for the front grille. The lower grille under the bumper was also uneven in the front and rear directions to create a three-dimensional effect.

Koshiyama, who was in charge of color design, says, “To create that three-dimensional effect, we also worked on the color and feel of the materials.
“To accentuate the form, different colors and materials were used to create contrast. Also, the use of silver for the lower part of the body emphasizes the sense of lift. In addition, the plastic used for the grille was given a surface pattern to enhance its texture, giving it a sense of presence and making it more of a tool."

The coloring of the body as a whole also expresses the Delica style.
“Of all the previous Delicas, the one that left the strongest impression on me was the green. Certainly, it had been a very popular and iconic color. However, green encompasses a wide range of colors, and we began by collecting and analyzing samples of green from each generation. As a new car, we wanted it to feel fresh, so we chose a green color that would suit contemporary tastes,” says Koshiyama.

At the end of this process, what Koshiyama proposed was Ash Green. Initially, a solid ash green color was developed to give the car a feeling of a piece of outdoor gear, but the team realized that under certain lighting conditions it would be difficult to make out the car’s profile, so they increased the amount of metallics to produce this new color. According to the latest data, for both monotone and two-tone options, over 30% of Delica Mini customers selected ash green.
“Even I was surprised that so many people chose the green. I believe that the “cabin black” two-tone design with a black roof and pillars, a balanced combination of black details, and making the area covered by ash green more compact, helped the green, which can be divisive as a color, to be more readily embraced.”