2024 Mitsubishi Triton will be more expensive

It’s official: The all-new 2024 Mitsubishi Triton ute range will be more expensive than the popular model it replaces because it’s bigger, more powerful and brings a lot more technology.

Pricing for the sixth-generation Triton won’t be announced until much closer to its Australian release next February, but Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) CEO Shaun Westcott has already flagged price hikes – beyond those that came with the MY23 Triton range released last December.

“The new one will be more expensive. We have significantly improved the vehicle, and the calibre and quality of our car demonstrates that we’ll be able to maintain a better price in the market,” Westcott told Australian journalists at the Triton’s world debut in Thailand last week.

“But there is more value in the car. There is more spec in the car. So there will be a price step up over the current generation. But let’s see what the market tells us. We think it can sustain a much stronger price.”

When it arrives in Australian showrooms next February, the new Triton will only be available in automatic Double Cab and Club Cab pick-up forms (in familiar GLX, GLX+, GLS and GSR trim levels), with more utilitarian single-cab, cab/chassis and manual versions to follow.

The outgoing Triton is currently priced from $30,740 (about $1000 less than the volume-selling Toyota HiLux Workmate single-cab/chassis), rising to between $44,690 and $56,940 in most popular dual-cab 4x4 auto form – significantly less than the HiLux, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-MAX equivalents.

But Westcott wouldn’t say whether the new Triton would remain cheaper than its chief rivals – a key factor in the current model’s status as Australia’s third most popular ute, at least until slower supplies saw the Isuzu D-MAX overtake it on the 2023 sales chart.

“At the moment, I can’t tell you if the Triton will be priced below its rivals, and I won’t be able to give you that detail until closer to the local launch in February,” he said.

“We’ve had, with the current-generation Triton, a consistent third place in the market. This vehicle is significantly better than the current range of Triton, which despite its age and supply constraints is still the third best-selling vehicle in its class.

“Cost mitigates that to some degree, and you’ll have noticed that over the last two or three years the price of the Triton has been climbing, albeit not as much as the competitors, and we’ve been able to sustain those price levels which tells us that the customer is seeing the value in the vehicle.”

But wherever pricing lands, Westcott conceded the new Triton will merely catch up with – rather than overtake – its key competitors in terms of size, performance and technology.

“I suppose it has caught up to where the market is,” he said.

“Firstly, it addresses our core market, our target market, and their needs and requirements … and it is a significant step up over the last one in every aspect, whether it’s dimensions, size, kilowatts, newton-metres or payload.

“And while we haven’t presented the final specifications yet, the spec list makes comparisons with some of the competitors in the segment in quite a few areas. We have the technology and the size – and other benefits – over our competitors.

“We think it’s going to stack up – we think it’s going to do the job.”

Based on a wider, stiffer new ladder frame and powered by an upgraded twin-turbo 2.4-litre diesel engine, the new Triton is claimed to bring class-leading tray volume and rear knee-room, and finally brings a 3500kg towing capacity.

What’s more, it all but matches the new Ranger benchmark for power (150kW), safety and infotainment technology.

But the new Triton’s peak torque output falls short of its rivals at 470Nm, its transmissions and four-wheel drive system mostly carry over from the outgoing model and it lacks premium equipment like an electric parking brake, fully digital instrument cluster, cargo bed illumination and rear disc brakes.

The Triton is a key model for Mitsubishi in terms of sales and profit, accounting for 20 per cent of the Japanese car-maker’s global sales and being Mitsubishi Australia’s top-selling model since 2013.

More Tritons are sold in Australia than any other country except Thailand, where it’s produced exclusively, and Australia is the world’s most profitable Triton market thanks in part to the highest proportion of genuine accessory sales.

Alongside development in Japan and Thailand, more than 100 Mitsubishi engineers have tested the new Triton in Australia over the past two years and the new model is forecast to achieve 200,000 annual sales in over 100 countries, including Japan for the first time in 12 years.

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