Mitsubishi Pajero to finally die in 2021

Mitsubishi will exit Europe, shrink its workforce, close unprofitable dealers and cull production of the Pajero as part of an aggressive plan to slash 20 per cent of its costs following a second consecutive year of heavy losses.

Marking its biggest loss in 18 years, between March 2019 and March 2020 the Japanese car-maker lost 140 billion yen ($A1.9bn) -- its worst performance since 2002.

Blaming the coronavirus and struggling sales in China and southeast Asia even before the global pandemic hit, Mitsubishi says its heavy losses will trigger a dramatic response including closing the Japanese plant that makes the Pajero next year.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, Mitsubishi will reduce its presence in both Europe and North America in its bid to refocus the business on growth in Asia.

Commenting on the new business plan, Mitsubishi chief exec Takeo Kato said: "To pave the way to recovery, the top priority of all executives is to share a sense of crisis with employees to execute cost reductions."

Under the massive new restructuring, the smallest member of the Nissan-Renault Alliance plans to lift its operating profit to 50 billion yen ($A650m) a year by 2022/23.

There's no word yet when Pajero supplies will run out in Australia, but it's thought the rugged LandCruiser Prado rival will remain on sale here into 2021.

Introduced back in 2006, the current fourth-generation Mitsubishi Pajero is well past its prime but still wins fans for its reliability, off-road capability and towing might.

The 2006 NS Pajero update was a 'top hat' on the previous third-gen NM/NP-series and uses the same hard points, so the chassis under current model actually dates back to 1999.