2022 Mitsubishi Triton ute first cab off the rank

The next Mitsubishi Triton expected in 2022 will offer a hybrid powertrain shared across Alliance partners Nissan and Renault but it’s unlikely to be offered with a turbo-diesel V6, according to Mitsubishi’s recently installed chief operating officer, Ashwani Gupta.

Gupta, in Australia this week on a whistle-stop tour to talk to local management and dealers, also spoke to carsales yesterday on the future of its all-important Triton, the company’s number-one selling vehicle with global sales of 250,000 a year.

The Mitsubishi global boss said the next Triton ute (and Triton-based Pajero Sport SUV) would be electrified, but it would be in some hybrid form rather than pure electric.

“On Triton and the Pajero Sport, obviously we believe that they will need electrification [but] one of the core strengths of Mitsubishi is to have electrification and ICE (internal combustion engine) in the same car, so we don’t have a policy to develop a dedicated electrified car,” Gupta said.

“We have the technology and the know-how to use the same platform to be adaptable to ICE, to be adaptable to electrification like you see today with Outlander PHEV.”

Whether the new Triton will use a conventional hybrid or PHEV (plug-in hybrid) powertrain was still under discussion, said Gupta, because of the model’s heavy-duty load requirements.

“The specific requirements of the next Triton – which is towing capacity, which is payload – the question is whether our existing PHEV technology will fulfil these specific requirements,” he said.

“In terms of the truck specification, whether PHEV is the right technology or HEV [hybrid] is the right technology, that is what we’re studying now, but it will need electrification.

“We are working on two or three options to make sure that we come up with the right strategy. We are studying all the possible options.

“We are confident on PHEV because it is a proven technology for us; the question is how much we deviate from PHEV is the answer we have to find.”

Gupta said that Mitsubishi believed PHEV was the most compelling technology for Triton because not only of emissions compliance but “because of drivability, handling, the performance”, and that it was a better alternative to pure electric.

“PHEV does not have the challenge of infrastructure that the BEV has; PHEV we believe is the right technology not only for performance but the environment,” he said.

“We have both the PHEV and hybrid technology but we believe that PHEV is the right technology for performance, total cost of ownership as well as for the environment.”

Whether the new ute gets an electric powertrain from the start was also contingent on exactly what technology the company decides on.

“We have to find this answer as part of our study,” Gupta said. “If we use existing technology, it’ll be faster; if we have to adapt something, it’ll have to follow the product life cycle.”

Despite the V6 turbo-diesel engine being such a hit with Volkswagen Amarok buyers that a manual version has just been released and the arrival last year of V6 power for Mercedes-Benz X-Class (and the announcement of a V6 for the next-gen Ranger), Gupta said it was a matter of wait and see.

“It’s available in our Alliance – we have this engine in Titan in the US – but whether we’re going to going to apply it to Triton, whether there’s a market, whether there’s a business to fulfil, I think it’s too early to say.

“At present we’ll just watch. Once of the purchasing factors for Australian customers is fuel economy, so what is the balance between the passion to drive a vehicle with a high-powered engine and have good fuel economy? This is the question.”

While Gupta would not been drawn on the 2022 Mitsubishi Triton’s launch timing, saying only saying “It’s very much on plan; we have to very much manage our life cycle”, he said Mitsubishi was taking the lead with development and would be first of the Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault brands to introduce the new ute platform to the market.

“On the pick-up, it is very much understandable that Mitsubishi has got the competitiveness on the Triton. We started having the best practice exchange with Nissan, we do a lot of benchmarking on the current pick-ups, to understand each of them.

“On the next pick-up we are obviously working together but with all the core markets we have with Mitsubishi, we have only one manufacturing base, which is Thailand.

“How and when Nissan and Renault get onto the boat, we will have to wait. As of today, we are taking the lead.

“It is a matter of each brand’s business decision on when they will launch, but as far as Mitsubishi is concerned ,this is our core market, and we are going ahead with the development of Triton successor.”

Whichever electric powertrain the Triton uses, it will be shared with Alliance partners – Nissan for the Navara and Renault for the Alaskan – if they want it, according to Gupta.

“We exchange our technologies. For example for the next Outlander, which has a common platform, we obviously share the powertrains with each other.

“As far as it makes sense in terms of synergies, we exchange the technologies, we exchange the platforms.

“Even today we share engines, so this will continue, as far as is a benefit to each other.”

Which powertrain or powertrains the next Triton uses in Australia is not yet decided, but they could come from another Alliance partner, such as Nissan.

“We are working on different powertrain line-ups,” Gupta said. “In terms of details, we haven’t decided yet, but for sure we will use each others’ powertrains to maximise the synergies.”