Mitsubishi Express News

The Mitsubishi Express van is going it alone in the market, with the company stating it has no plans to rebrand the Kangoo and Master.

Mitsubishi's new Express van range will be available in just one grade, the GLX, but spread across four flavours that encompass manual or automatic, and short- or long-wheelbase versions.As previously reported, all versions are powered by diesel engines,

Mitsubishi Australia has revealed the fourth-generation Express mid-size van, which will enter showrooms in July

Mitsubishi Australia has asked owners of 8081 older Mirage and Lancer cars, Pajero SUVs, Express vans and Starwagon people movers that could be fitted with potentially deadly airbags to “stop driving immediately”, going as far as offering to buy them back

Mitsubishi Australia has provided its best indication yet of when it will return to the van segment for the first time in seven years, with the reborn Express mid-sizer officially locked in for a mid-year launch.

Mitsubishi Australia this week says the pitiful one-star crash rating smacked in the face of the company's corporate message of safety. “Safety is one of our core messages,” says Mitsubishi Australia spokesperson Caitlin Beale. “We can't bring in a one-star vehicle so our decision for Australia is not to import anymore.” Ms Beale says dealers will sell stock of which she estimates only “a handful” remain. Mitsubishi will continue to manufacture the Express in Japan for its domestic market plus some export markets. Ms Beale says there is no replacement for the Express “at the moment”. No similar van exists in Mitsubishi's portfolio though the company has an alliance with PSA Peugeot Citroen. The Express was once one of the nation's most popular vans but competition from Korea's Hyundai iLoad and perennial Toyota Hiace, plus new entrants from Europe, has slashed sales. It sold 622 last year compared with 6387 Hiaces. Part of the van's popularity was its price. At $26,590 it is $6000 cheaper than the equivalent Hiace. The Express' success also has been slurried by its unsafe one-star crash rating - the lowest of any crash-tested vehicle sold in Australia. Commercial vehicles are not required to be crash tested so many are sold without buyers knowing how they fare in a crash. It is a loophole exploited by manufacturers of some Chinese vans and utes. News of the impending death of the Express come as Mercedes-Benz freezes plans to import the compact Citan van. In European crash tests, the Citan scored only a three-star rating. Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman David McCarthy says “at the moment, I can't comment”. The Citan, which was expected to be launched here later this year, is based heavily on the Renault Kangoo van which, astoundingly, scored four stars out of the possible five.