The Japanese automaker is currently but a pale shadow of what it used to be, across many regions – including the Old Continent and New World. Hopefully, a new Raider might arrive to change that.
Currently, the carmaker has but a handful of models in Europe – including the so-called “all-new” 2023 Mitsubishi ASX plug-in hybrid, which aims for new electrified beginnings in old, stolen clothes from the Renault Captur. Moving across the pond, there are just six options to choose from – and, if we are frank, there are just four model series.
They start with the puny 2023 Mirage and Mirage G4, level up with the Outlander Sport (which still looks like an ASX, not a Captur) and Eclipse Cross, and end with a quick Outlander and Outlander PHEV bang. The only good news is the MSRP spread is a small one, from a little over $16k to below the magical $40k threshold. Still, there is one major omission from the roster.
No, it is not the next generation Lancer Evolution – that ship sailed away and sank into the horizon long ago, stop daydreaming about it! Instead, what Mitsubishi really needs to join the other Japanese automakers in the quest for sales glory is a good pickup truck, ladies and gents! No worries, if the real (OEM) world is keeping mum about the new Mitsubishi pickup truck prototypes that were spied in the United States last fall and their possible new-gen L200/Triton appurtenance, then we can always resort to a different solution to satisfy desires.
That would be to call on the imaginative realm of digital car content creators to the rescue, of course. In this particular hypothetical and highly unofficial case, our fix arrives courtesy of Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, who has taken up the task of revealing a new Mitsubishi Raider - in CGI. But what is this thing, one might ask?
As a reminder, the nameplate was initially used for a Dodge Raider SUV that was marketed in the United States during the late 1980s as a rebadged Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero. The Mitsubishi Raider, meanwhile, was presented in 2005 as a mid-size pickup truck for the U.S. market based on the Dodge Ram Dakota. It did not survive long enough to weave a long tale (2006-2009 model years, solely), but it also seems that it has not been entirely forgotten.
Now, the pixel master has taken the old and slightly boxy design into the 21st century, and what to some might look like a veritable hodgepodge of disparate elements (has anyone noticed the Land Rover headlights?!), to others might feel like the perfect recipe of harshness needed to make Mitsubishi great again, at least in America. It would also serve as a cool attempt to dethrone the Toyota Tacoma supremacy, or at least duke it well with the rest of the followers like the next Ford Ranger and others, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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