Mitsubishi Lancer News

Cathy, Thorpey, Kylie and Nikki had just shown the world that Australia can hold its own in sports and culture, we’d given quite a few of our guns away, the Millenial Bug wasn’t such a concern anymore… and three sedans dominated Aussie roads.A quarter of a century ago, the year 2000 was just in the rear-view, and the sales charts looked very different to today.What better time than 25 years later to look back at the cars and brands Australians were heading to the showroom for?Not only were there fewer utes and SUVs being sold, they didn’t even make up a third of the new vehicle sales in the country combined that year. Utes and SUVs were lumped together in the same section of the VFACTS report (the sales figures industry stakeholders, pundits and media receive each month) alongside heavy trucks.Only 8413 new Toyota RAV4s were sold, making the Daewoo Lanos (9029 sales) more popular that year. Compare that to 2025, when the RAV4 ranked second in sales for the year with a whopping 51,947 units, only topped by the Ranger (56,555).Speaking of which, how did our now-favourite utes fare in 2000? The Ford Courier, the Ranger’s predecessor, sold just 6769 units, while the HiLux managed to hop into the top 10 with 21,509 sales. Still somewhat short of its 51,297 in 2025.To be fair, if you’d asked someone if they were buying a Ford ute, the Courier wouldn’t have been the first thing to come to mind. Ford sold 13,698 Falcon utes in the year 2000, putting it well ahead of its Commodore rival’s 6361.That can be explained easily, Holden didn't build a new ute for the VT generation Commodore of the late-’90s, instead continuing to sell the VS ute alongside the VT sedan.The near-new AU Falcon ute (released in mid-1999) had the car-based ute market covered for the turn of the century.Those two now-gone badges, along with the enduring Toyota Camry and the impressive Mitsubishi Magna, were impossible to avoid on Aussie roads then, with the Commodore, Falcon, Camry and Magna being first, second, third and fifth (thanks to the Corolla in fourth) most popular cars in the country in 2000.Between them they contributed to the total 198,766 large passenger cars sold in 2000, which made up 35.9 per cent of the year’s new vehicle sales. In 2025, large passenger cars made up just 2285 sales, or 0.2 per cent of the market.Small cars made up the other major chunk of sales back in 2000, with 154,050 sales being 27.8 per cent of the market. They were 72,222 sales and 6.0 per cent of last year’s market share.The aforementioned Daewoo was in the top 10 brands (just) in terms of sales for the year 2000, but was the only brand in that list that no longer exists.A scroll through the list shows other long-gone names like Daihatsu, Saab and Proton, and one not-so-long-gone name — Citroen.Daewoo Nubira? Daihatsu Sirion? Even the Proton Satria? These forgotten cars all sold in the thousands back then.Giants like Kia and Hyundai have come a long way, too. The brands once known for the Excel or Accent, plus the Kia Rio in its most ‘cheap and cheerful’ phase (RIP) are now global powerhouses with new technology and reliability commonly in the same sentence as their badge names. Hyundai, at least, was still a top-10 player back then.Below, there are tables with the most popular models and brands from the year 2000 and the figures we gleaned from the data — note the badge names have been consolidated so that cars with Commodore (for example) includes all body types.Top 10 cars sold in Australia in 2000Top 10 cars brands in Australia in 2000  

Consigned to the history books when production for Australia ceased in 2017, it looks like Mitsubishi could breathe life into the Lancer badge again with a new electric car. Meanwhile, Montero was the Pajero’s name in the United States and Latin America as ‘pajero’ is a derogatory term in Spanish. New patent filings in the US (following Mitsubishi’s renewed interest in the market after strong sales), suggest the Lancer Sportback and Montero (Pajero) names could return.Don’t expect another Lancer Evolution, or necessarily a direct Pajero/Montero replacement. The Eclipse Cross was, after all, a decent small SUV but a rather mediocre tribute to the nameplate’s sporting heritage. Though there were no passenger cars previewed in Mitsubishi’s Momentum 2030 teaser, the Lancer Sportback name could apply to one of the smaller SUVs pictured in the shadowy line-up.If the Lancer Sportback does come to fruition, it’s to do so as an electric car. With Mitsubishi and Nissan’s alliance partnership, there are rumours a 10th-gen Lancer could share a platform with the next-generation Leaf. First, though, the name will have to get past the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as the trademark was initially rejected in the country. Mitsubishi has since appealed. Next up it is the Montero nameplate, also recently patented in the United States. Rumours of a new Pajero as a halo for the brand have been running for a number of years now with the nameplate being retired following the closure of Mitsubishi's Sakahogi plant in March 2021.The most plausible option for the new Pajero is a platform shared with Nissan’s ‘Y63’ Patrol, which will be based heavily on the Infiniti QX80. Expect Mitsubishi’s take to be differentiated, potentially by a plug-in hybrid powertrain.Far from ignoring and dispelling rumours, Mitsubishi executives in Australia and Japan have gone on record saying they would love to see the Pajero again."I have put up my hand and said we would love to have one because it's a very valuable nameplate, because it is a fantastic product, because it's a halo product."For all of the above reasons, we would love to have one here,” local CEO Shaun Westcott previously told CarsGuide. Along with the newly stoked Montero/Pajero and Lancer rumours, Mitsubishi is facing a large-scale product renewal in the coming years. A new pick-up truck larger than the Triton for the United States, potentially a global Delica off-road van, hardcore Outlander and more are expected.

Here are the popular models no longer available in Australia that are living an extended or second life elsewhere.

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If you were holding out hope for a new-generation Mitsubishi Lancer sedan or Mirage and Colt hatchback, unfortunately, we've got some bad news for you.Speaking to CarsGuide, Mitsubishi Motors Australia boss Shaun Westcott said the local market has well an

Small passenger cars like hatchbacks and sedans have, traditionally, been one Australia's favourite vehicle types.However, according to sales figures, small passenger cars could eventually become a thing of the past.It's a huge turnaround given the popula

Mitsubishi has decided to now only make and sell SUVs and utes, but that doesn’t mean a return of the Lancer, Starion or a new sports car isn’t off their wish list, a company senior executive has revealed.

Finding a nameplate that resonates with customers is one of the great challenges for a car company - which is why they never like to let them go. 

Mitsubishi has been open about its intentions to have a high-performance future, and now we’ve been given our best look yet at what it could look like: the eagerly anticipated Lancer Evo XI