Photo: CarPix
As a car company, Mitsubishi Motors has been struggling with poor sales. Part of the problem has been that their lineup didn't match customer demand for SUVs, which is increasing rapidly every year.
The Japanese are now dumping all of their development money into offroaders and the next one to come out will be this mid-size model, which has many names but is known to most as the Challenger, Montero or Pajero Sport.
It's been in production since 1996 with sales reaching over 80,000 in 2012. The 3rd generation model expected to come out in the next year is much more aggressively designed and follows the lines of all the recent concepts shown by the Lancer makers.
We think that at launch, the new Pajero Sport will closely mirror the engine range of the Triton and L200 pickups that share its platform and are built at the same factory in Thailand. However, further down the line, we could begin to see more advanced tech being used.
At the recent Chicago Auto Show, Mitsubishi showed a concept called the GC-PHEV, which very closely resembles the upright stance and chubby front fascia of the new Pajero Sport. That concept also included a new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) powertrain that consisted of a combination of supercharged 3.0-liter V6, producing 335 horsepower, and electric motor producing an additional 94 hp.
Just like the new BMW X5 xDrive40e, the GC also featured an all-electric mode that could propel the SUV for up to 25 miles (40 km) per charge. However, we're confident this sort of advanced tech won't be available too soon at any Mitsubishi dealership.
It's been in production since 1996 with sales reaching over 80,000 in 2012. The 3rd generation model expected to come out in the next year is much more aggressively designed and follows the lines of all the recent concepts shown by the Lancer makers.
We think that at launch, the new Pajero Sport will closely mirror the engine range of the Triton and L200 pickups that share its platform and are built at the same factory in Thailand. However, further down the line, we could begin to see more advanced tech being used.
At the recent Chicago Auto Show, Mitsubishi showed a concept called the GC-PHEV, which very closely resembles the upright stance and chubby front fascia of the new Pajero Sport. That concept also included a new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) powertrain that consisted of a combination of supercharged 3.0-liter V6, producing 335 horsepower, and electric motor producing an additional 94 hp.
Just like the new BMW X5 xDrive40e, the GC also featured an all-electric mode that could propel the SUV for up to 25 miles (40 km) per charge. However, we're confident this sort of advanced tech won't be available too soon at any Mitsubishi dealership.
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