Many regional licensees were set up previously. Ralliart Europe was established as Andrew Cowan Motorsports (ACMS) Ltd in 1983 by Andrew Cowan, a driver with the Mitsubishi team. His team mate, Doug Stewart, set-up Ralliart Australia as the official regional licensee in 1988. These operations served as bases for Mitsubishi's global motorsport activities, and were responsible for the company's record in off-road racing, including the 1998 Manufacturers' Championship in the World Rally Championship, four individual Drivers' Championships for Tommi Mäkinen in 1996–99, and a record twelve wins in the Dakar Rally since 1982.
The company established Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports in Trebur, Germany in November 2002. In 2003, Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports consolidated the previously independent licensees under this umbrella, acquiring ACMS Ltd from Cowan while Mitsubishi Motors Australia took over Stewart's operation.
On May 13, 2021, Mitsubishi executives announced that they would bring back Ralliart as part of a plan.
In 2003, MMSP also purchased the Pont-de-Vaux-based SBM operation, which had been responsible for its cross country rallying activities, to form MMSP SAS. The team used the Mitsubishi Pajero to win the Dakar Rally every year between 2004 and 2007. After the 2008 running was cancelled, the team developed a new car, the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer, for 2009, but struggled, losing the race to rivals Volkswagen. In 2009, Mitsubishi withdrew from cross-country competition. In late 2009, Nicolas Misslin acquired MMSP SAS and renamed it JMB Stradale Off Road.
Ralliart Europe entered the World Rally Championship full-time for the first time in 1989, with the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. The car won in the hands of Mikael Ericsson in Finland and Pentti Airikkala in Great Britain. Mitsubishi finished fourth in the manufacturers' standings in 1989, and third in 1990. Kenneth Eriksson delivered the team its next victory in Sweden in 1991.
The team introduced the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution for the 1993 season. The Lancer Evolution II was introduced half-way through the 1994 season, with Armin Schwarz scoring a second-placed finish on its debut in Greece. The car took its first victory on the following year's Rally Sweden, with Kenneth Eriksson leading Tommi Mäkinen. The Lancer Evolution III was soon introduced, and Eriksson took it to victory on the 1995 Rally Australia. In 1996, Mäkinen won five out of nine rounds to win the Drivers' Championship.
The Lancer Evolution IV was introduced for the start of the 1997 season. Mäkinen won four out of 14 rallies to win his and Mitsubishi's second drivers' title. The Lancer Evolution V replaced it for the fifth round in Spain in 1998. Mäkinen took the car to victory in Argentina, which then won the final four events of the season, allowing Mäkinen to win a third straight title, while Mitsubishi took their first manufacturers' title, thanks to two victories from Richard Burns.
Mitsubishi consolidated their racing activities in 2003, acquiring ACMS Ltd from Cowan while Mitsubishi Motors Australia took over Stewart's operation. This followed the formation of Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports (MMSP) GmbH in Trebur, Germany in November 2002. The team signed Gilles Panizzi to lead its lineup, and Kristian Sohlberg, Gigi Galli and Daniel Solà to share its second car. Panizzi scored points on three occasions before the team reduced its programme after ten of 14 rounds, switching their focus to developing their 2005 car.
Mitsubishi returned in 2005 with a developed car, the Lancer WRC05, and had signed Harri Rovanperä to drive one car on all 16 rallies, with Panizzi and Galli sharing the second car. Panizzi scored Mitsubishi's first podium finish since 2001 on the first event of the season, Monte Carlo. Rovanperä was a regular points scorer, finishing second on Rally Australia, to finish the season seventh in the drivers' standings. Mitsubishi finished fifth in the manufacturers' standings, ahead of Skoda. At the end of 2005, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation suspended its participation in the WRC.
MMSP Ltd supported Galli's Lancer WRC05 entry for the two opening rounds of 2006, in association with Ralliart Italy. MMSP Ltd. ran two Lancer WRC05s for Toni Gardemeister and Xavier Pons on the first three rounds of the 2007 season, as well as a third car for Juho Hänninen on round three in Norway. In February 2009, MMSP Ltd operations manager John Easton completed a buy-out of the Rugby-based company to form MML Sports Ltd.
Mitsubishi continues to use the Ralliart name both to sell aftermarket components and as a "halo" brand for higher-performance editions of many of its models. Many of the regional licensees continue to operate. Ralliart Italy prepares Mitsubishi rally cars for Armindo Araujo and the Pirelli Star Drivers in the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC). Ralliart China hold the brand rights for the China territory. They construct competition vehicles to be used in the China Rally Championship and China Cross Country Rally Championship, sell competition parts, manage teams and offer technical consultancy to its clients. In 2012 Benito Guerra Jr. won in México, Argentina and España rallies, plus a second place in Germany, clinching the PWRC world championship in doing so.
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