(March 5, 2011) It's not much in the grand scheme of February vehicle sales in the U.S., but its 6,893 vehicles sold during the 28-day month is a big deal for Mitsubishi. It represents a whopping 71 percent increase over February 2010 when the Japanese company sold only 4,019 vehicles.

It was the highest monthly sales since October 2008.

The Outlander Sport was the Mitsubishi star with 1,290 units sold. The Lancer Evolution was another bright spot with a 17.9 percent gain from February 2010.

"With Outlander Sport sales increasing each month since it was launched last October, this demonstrates that our American customers appreciate a value-priced/well-equipped vehicle that is stylish, versatile while also delivering impressive fuel economy and electronic All-Wheel-Control," said Mitsubishi North American President & CEO Shin Kurihara.

"Thus far, the Outlander Sport sales mix has been over 50 percent well-equipped All-Wheel-Control models which exceeds our expectations for this equipment level. With the addition of increased sales from other models in our lineup, the February sales are an indication of the excellent work performed by all of our employees and our dealer partners."

The new five-passenger Sport was named "Best Compact Crossover for the Money" for 2011 by U.S. News & World Report based on such criteria as overall value, appeal within its vehicle class and five-year total cost of ownership data provided by TrueCar.

Mitsubishi also announced that the Outlander Sport will begin production at the company’s world-class manufacturing facility in Normal, Ill., by the middle of 2012.