Mitsuoka M55 sold out in a week

Just a week after announcing its M55 model starting from ¥8.1 million, Mitsuoka reported receiving a whopping 350 orders. That’s impressive for a reskinned Honda Civic hatchback still running its original engine.

The company still says it will likely only be able to produce 100 units. This means that the would-be owners will have to draw a lottery in mid-December to see who gets the privilege of buying the Japanese exotic.

Having said that, Mitsuoka admitted that it might eventually produce more M55s if it can make the design work with a different powertrain. The current model relies on a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with 182 PS (180 hp / 134 kW) and a manual transmission. While nothing is certain yet, Mitsuoka said it might consider launching a hybrid version of the M55, or one that trades the stick shift for a CVT.