Unlike other Japanese automakers – like Subaru, Nissan, and especially the all-mighty Toyota - Mitsubishi is a pale shadow of what it used to be in America.
If we look at the current roster, the Mirage and Mirage G4 are dirt cheap but also wholly uninteresting and plain boring. The 2024 Eclipse Cross wants itself to be a quirky, trendy crossover but fails to bring sportiness or any excitement inside the package. The 2023 Outlander Sport is pretty meh, leaving us with the best-selling flagship Outlander.
It's the only one of any importance, especially in PHEV form. In other regions, things are even worse – like in Europe, where the company has decided to give customers some Chinese copycats of the Renault Clio and Renault Captur in the guise of the badge-engineered Mitsubishi Colt hatchback and ASX subcompact crossover SUV. Luckily, there are also some bright lights – though only around ASEAN markets.
That's because Mitsubishi recently presented the Xforce compact crossover SUV at the 30th edition of the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show and also the all-new, fifth-generation Triton mid-size pickup truck a little before that in Thailand. Also known as the L200 across most export markets, this workhorse has been a staple of the Mitsubishi roster since 1978.
On sale for 45 years, it was only natural the model would have more than enough time to visit all sorts of markets – even if not under its known name. Instead, Triton was also known as the Mitsubishi Forte or Strada at home in Japan, Rodeo plus Storm, Magnum, or Strakar across various markets and regions. And it was even sold in the United States at one point in time – as the Mitsubishi Mighty Max until 2002.
That's besides all the captive imports and badge-engineered reworks such as the Dodge D50, Dodge Ram 50 and Plymouth Arrow, Ram 1200, or Fiat Fullback. Well, it shows that it's probably one of the most important models for Mitsubishi – and also among its most popular and successful across various markets. So, why not envision a North American comeback for the fifth iteration?
Well, for starters, because it will need extensive rework to suit US standards – and also because Ram and Fiat might want to use it as rebadged models across their lineups yet again. But that's all in the real world. Meanwhile, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has no issues presenting the Mitsubishi Triton ready to take the United States market by storm – and with a twist.
According to Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, who has taken up the task of revealing a new Triton version - in CGI, all Mitsubishi needs is a little daringness and a contract to license the Ford F-Series Super Duty's platform as its own. With that, it would be 'very simple' at least across the parallel universe of virtual trucks to make the Mitsubishi Triton an enticing heavy-duty model, complete with dually options and the lot.
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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