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NEWS
Mitsubishi developing plug-in Pajero
Plug-in hybrid Pajero to be one of eight electrified Mitsubishi models to debut by 2015Mitsubishi has revealed it is developing a plug-in hybrid version of the next-generation Pajero due for release in 2014.
In his first visit to an Australian International Motor Show, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation President Osamu Masuko last week confirmed a plug-in Pajero is likely to be one of the eight electrified models Mitsubishi has committed to releasing by 2015.
Asked if the Pajero was too large to be fitted with a plug-in hybrid drive system similar to next year’s Outlander PHEV, Mr Masuko said: “You are asking the questions that we are scratching our head and asking ourselves.
“For example, if we were to bring Pajero to the Middle Eastern countries probably plug-in hybrid would not be the way. Having said that, if it was to Europe or to Australia we think the plug-in hybrid might be better.
“For the future we would like to keep a couple of options, but considering the future I think it will be very important to accommodate individual regions,” said Masuko-san through an interpreter.
Mitsubishi has previously announced plans to offer electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) versions of all future passenger vehicles depending on the market in which they are sold, with full battery-electric technology to power small vehicles and PHEV systems to be fitted to larger vehicles and SUVs.
Australia’s first EV, the i-MiEV city-car, was the first of eight electrified models Mitsubishi has promised to launch in the first half of this decade and will spawn a long-awaited commercial ‘mini-truck’ version due for release in Japan in January.
The PHEV version of next month’s redesigned Outlander – billed as the world’s first vehicle to be designed from the outset to accommodate both electric and internal combustion drive systems – arrives here in mid-2013 and Mr Masuko said Mitsubishi continues to study both EV and hybrid versions of the all-new Mirage due on sale here in January.
Mitsubishi is yet announce its other four electrified vehicles, but Mitsubishi has long hinted at electrifying the next-generation Lancer Evo, making PHEV technology almost certain for the all-new Lancer due in early 2014.
Mr Masuko said the new Lancer will be smaller than the existing model and would remain Mitsubishi’s largest passenger model, with no plans to develop a successor for either the US-market Galant or Australia’s discontinued 380.
He said MMC had gained valuable EV experience from campaigning two i-MiEVs in this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), in which one finished second in the EV class.
“We wanted to find the limitations of EV. (We) have quite a lot of information after doing this,” he said, adding that Mitsubishi aimed to not only win the EV category next year at Pikes Peak, but take out overall honours with a modified i-MiEV.
Mr Masuko also confirmed Mitsubishi’s next-generation Triton will be launched in 2014, six months before the new Pajero, but it will not be co-developed alongside Nissan’s next Navara, as the two companies had indicated in late 2010.
“We do not have any plan to work with Nissan for the next (Triton) model – we will do that by ourselves,” he said.
However, Mitsubishi’s global chief confirmed an all-new Challenger would again be based on the same full ladder chassis of the (next) Triton one-tonner – unlike Nissan’s new 2013 Pathfinder, which will be underpinned for the first time by a car-like monocoque chassis.
“When the new Triton model comes I think the Challenger should become new, too, but I don’t think the launch will be at the same time,” he said, adding: “I think it is important that (Challenger) continues to the next phase, but it is probably later than Triton.”
Mr Masuko said he expected the new Outlander and Mirage – which he unveiled in Sydney on Thursday – to “lay the foundation for a sustained period of growth for the (Australian) franchise”.
“Australia continues to be a very important market for Mitsubishi Motors, even more so during the challenging economic conditions that are being faced in many of our other western markets.”
Mitsubishi this week announced upgraded 13MY versions of both the Pajero and Triton. All versions of the 13MY Pajero will come with a rear differential lock as standard when they go on sale here in December, while twin front, front-side and curtain airbags are now standard across the 13MY Triton double-cab range and the entry-level GLX 4x2 scores a Hi Power 2.5-litre diesel engine, among a host of extra standard equipment.
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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