The European motorsport arm of Ralliart began in 1983 when rally driver Andrew Cowan established Andrew Cowan Motorsports (ACMS) Ltd in Rugby, Warwickshire, as a base for Mitsubishi's European activities. Cowan had scored Mitsubishi's first international victory in 1972 at the Southern Cross Rally. A parallel Australian operation, Ralliart Australia, was established in 1988 by Doug Stewart, who had been Cowan's team mate in 1975 and 1976. In November 2002, Mitsubishi formed Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports (MMSP) GmbH in Trebur, Germany, and consolidated the previously independent licensees under this umbrella in 2003, acquiring ACMS Ltd from Cowan.
Ralliart Europe entered the World Rally Championship full-time in 1989 with the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, winning in Finland with Mikael Ericsson and in Great Britain with Pentti Airikkala. Mitsubishi finished fourth in the manufacturers' standings that year and third in 1990.
The team introduced the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution for the 1993 season and evolved it rapidly through successive generations. Kenneth Eriksson gave the Lancer Evolution II its first victory at the 1995 Rally Sweden. In 1996, Tommi Mäkinen won five of nine rounds to claim the drivers' championship, opening a golden era for the team. He followed that with four consecutive wins in Argentina across the 1997 season, and defended the title again in 1998, when Richard Burns also contributed two victories to secure Mitsubishi their first manufacturers' championship. Mäkinen's 1999 campaign — with wins in Monte Carlo, Sweden, New Zealand, and Sanremo — gave him a then-record fourth consecutive drivers' title.
From 2000 onward, the team struggled against rivals running newer World Rally Car specifications. Mitsubishi had persisted with Group A regulations even as Ford, Subaru, and others switched to WRC rules from 1997. The Lancer WRC, introduced mid-season at Sanremo in 2001, proved difficult to develop quickly, and Mäkinen departed for Subaru at the end of the year.
After the reorganisation in 2003, the rebranded MMSP outfit signed Gilles Panizzi to lead its driver lineup. The team reduced its programme partway through the 2004 season to focus on car development. A more competitive Lancer WRC05 arrived in 2005, with Harri Rovanperä finishing second at Rally Australia and seventh overall in the drivers' standings. Citroën's dominance, however, left little room for challenge, and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation suspended its WRC participation at the end of 2005.
MMSP Ltd continued to run customer entries in 2006 and 2007, supporting drivers including Toni Gardemeister, Xavier Pons, Juho Hänninen, and Urmo Aava. In February 2009, operations manager John Easton completed a management buyout of the Rugby-based company to form MML Sports Ltd, effectively ending Mitsubishi's direct corporate involvement in WRC operations.
MMSP also acquired the Pont-de-Vaux-based SBM operation in 2003 to form MMSP SAS, taking over Mitsubishi's cross-country rallying activities. The team used the Mitsubishi Pajero to win the Dakar Rally consecutively from 2004 through 2007. Following the cancellation of the 2008 event, Mitsubishi developed the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer for 2009, but the car could not match the Volkswagen Touareg and the team withdrew from cross-country competition that year. Frenchman Nicolas Misslin subsequently acquired MMSP SAS and renamed it JMB Stradale Off Road.
The Lancer Evolution name — synonymous with Ralliart's WRC involvement — became one of the most recognisable rally-bred road cars of the 1990s and 2000s. Ralliart's achievement of four consecutive drivers' championships with a single driver remained a WRC record until Sébastien Loeb surpassed it with nine consecutive titles from 2004. The brand continued to operate through regional licensees worldwide, with Ralliart Italy managing customer entries in the Production WRC category. Mitsubishi announced a revival of the Ralliart brand in May 2021 as part of a renewed performance vehicle strategy.