Mitsubishi previews future: New Triton & Pajero Sport, 7-seat Kluger rival, electric ute confirmed!

Mitsubishi has teased 16 new cars due globally in the next five years, including nine electrified vehicles.

As expected, it will introduce the next-generation 2024 Mitsubishi Triton later this year, with the teaser providing our first official glimpse at the all-new model. It is due in Australia next year.

The sixth-generation Mitsubishi Triton has been spied numerous times in the past 12 months. It will form the basis for an all-new Nissan Navara, and electrification is likely later in its lifecycle.

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Above: Our speculative look at the new Triton, based on spy photos

But earlier this year, Mitsubishi Australia's chief executive officer, Shaun Westcott, poured cold water on an electrified Triton – either plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or full-EV – at launch due to the inability to meet customer needs at present.

"There are people that develop show ponies and there's a place for show ponies. That's fine. But we understand who our core target market is, and that's middle-income Australia, working Australia," he said.

The forthcoming Triton will be followed by the fourth-generation Mitsubishi Pajero Sport – based on the Triton’s body-on-frame platform – and what's believed to be a larger unibody three-row SUV to rival the Toyota Kluger, Hyundai Palisade and Nissan Pathfinder in 2025.

By 2029, Mitsubishi will introduce an all-important battery-electric pickup truck.

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It is unknown if this model will be similar in size to the mid-size Triton, or a full-size rival to the Ford F-150 Lightning and Ram 1500 REV to boost Mitsubishi's sales in North America.

The teaser image released this week suggests it won’t share a platform with the next-generation Triton, with a longer and wider body, and a larger tub – but it’s unclear if the computer-generated vehicle under the sheet is representative of the final version.

It could be based on a future all-electric Nissan pick-up, but Automotive News suggests the current full-size Titan could be axed by 2025.

A mid-size Nissan electric ute concept – the Surf-Out – was displayed in 2021, hinting at a future production model.

Meanwhile, a production version of the XFC Concept revealed in late 2022 will debut in the coming months; however, it is expected to be limited to developing markets, with the 13-year-old ASX small SUV soldiering on for at least another 18 months.

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While the future product line-up suggests a two-row small-to-medium SUV will join Mitsubishi’s range in the second half of 2024, it is unknown if it would replace the ASX, Eclipse Cross, both vehicles, or act as an entirely new vehicle.

It will offer a hybrid powertrain, either as the only form of propulsion or to complement an internal-combustion-only powertrain.

If Mitsubishi applied an identical method as the latest-generation Outlander launched in 2021, the all-new two-row SUV could be based on the Nissan Qashqai under the skin.

Both vehicles are underpinned by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi CMF-C platform, and are also heavily related to the Nissan X-Trail.

Two all-electric vehicles – a badge-engineered Renault for Europe and a badge-engineered Nissan for Europe and North America – will debut almost simultaneously in 2025, following the hybrid-only Renault Captur-based European-market ASX in 2022 and the Renault Clio-based Mitsubishi Colt in late 2023.

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The all-electric vehicles will be important for Mitsubishi’s growth markets – Japan, Europe, North America and China – but could reach local shores as the brand’s first modern EV in Australia, following the short-lived i-MiEV micro hatch sold between 2011 and 2013.

Other new vehicles confirmed include an internal combustion and hybrid MPV – tipped to succeed the current Delica available in Japan – and a second facelift for the Xpander, a small MPV popular in Thailand and Indonesia, with an available hybrid powertrain.

In addition, Mitsubishi plans to “enhance value chain” by monetising its Mitsubishi Connect connected-car service, providing vehicle data to insurance companies, expanding its after-sales revenue, and retailing used vehicle batteries.