2024 Mitsubishi Triton to “smash” sales records

Record-smashing sales are being predicted for the new 2024 Mitsubishi Triton, in part because it will be shipped in containers to Australia from the factory in Thailand to avoid local port congestion and other supply delays.

The sixth-generation Triton launches in February 2024 in a truncated six-variant model range. It is an all-new model from the ground-up with substantial local tuning and price increases.

The overhaul, combined with “thousands” of registrations of interest on the official website and containerised shipping, has Mitsubishi Motors Australia president and CEO Shaun Westcott talking a huge game for the new Triton.

“We believe Triton will do for us what current Outlander [SUV] has done, which is smash all our [sales] records,” he said.

“This is a significantly better vehicle than current Triton.”

Mitsubishi sold a record 27,426 Tritons in Australia in 2022, making it the nation’s third most popular ute behind the dominant Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

Westcott believes sales of the new vehicle will exceed that mark and guarantees supplies will be available unless even his expectations are exceeded.

“Shipping was a significant issue for us this year, rather than production capacity,” Westcott said.

“We believe we have resolved that with some very ingenious and innovative solutions around shipping, so I don’t believe shipping is going to be a constraint. Touch wood.

“We believe we have planned for sufficient supply. If the vehicle exceeds that then we may have some challenges,” he conceded.

Westcott described the new Triton as moving up into the “premium division” and was clear he expected to steal sales from other utes at the top-end of the market, such as HiLux and Ranger.

“We believe there is a significant opportunity to conquest people into new Triton,” he said.

Using containers in addition to roll-on/roll-off ships reduces exposure to quarantine issues.

Mitsubishi Australia uses container shipping in addition to ‘ro-ro’ for all its models. It has also hired its own exclusive ro-ro ships to transport vehicles to Australia, as Ford has also done for Ranger and Everest.

Mitsubishi struck on these shipping alternatives early in 2023 after ongoing port congestion caused by bio-security checks for stink bugs and the like.

The impact of those supply bottlenecks can be seen in Mitsubishi’s 2023 sales performance. In a market up 12.6 per cent to the end of November, it is down nearly 14,000 sales or 19 per cent. It has also dropped from fourth to sixth on the sales ladder.

Container shipping eliminates the potential for cross-contamination from other vehicles in holding yards and car-carrying vessels that transport vehicles from different brands and stop at multiple ports.

Container shipping and exclusive ro-ro hire has already helped rebuild supplies of the current Triton as well as other models such as the Pajero Sport. Two Tritons or Pajero Sports can be fitted in each container.

Until now Mitsubishi has absorbed the increased cost of container shipping and reallocating car transporters to new ports in Australia, but the new Triton goes up substantially in price, in part because of higher logistics costs.

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