Mitsubishi Triton News

Mitsubishi's CEO, Shaun Westcott, explained the effect he thinks Australia’s tough new emissions laws will have on the new car market, and why Mitsubishi will continue to stick with its PHEV-heavy strategy.Westcott said there are still significant hurdles to overcome for electric cars despite the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) coming into effect.“Just penalising us is not going to deliver the outcomes we need. The original thinking was that if you penalised us, we’d bring more EVs to the market.”“There’s no shortage of choice, what we lack is positive initiatives. You can give us as many sticks as you like, we need some carrots.”“The bigger challenge with adoption is that we need to have a government which considers the peculiarities of the Australian market. We’re not Norway. We’re not a small country. We don’t have cities that are 40 kilometres apart.”He said even with advancements in battery technology, which may result in vehicles able to travel between Sydney and Melbourne on a single charge, having infrastructure sufficient for the cities was an ongoing issue.“As we sit here today, Adelaide has 52 public fast chargers. 52 for a city of one and a half million people!”Westcott added if Mitsubishi’s number crunching was reflective of the wider market, price hikes could be headed for most brands as they try to keep up with the regulations which have effectively moved Australia from the emissions environment of the 1980s to the strict nature of Euro 6 overnight.He said despite the abundance of options, even at lower price points, Australian consumers still preferred combustion engines overall, which will cause a problem for many manufacturers, and soon.“I think the reality we’re looking at today is a lot of brands have dialled back their EV ambitions because they’ve realised that just bringing the cars to the market, you can fill your showroom with EVs but if nobody buys them you’d have to discount those cars to a point where they will be below the cost of production and that’s happening already just to get people to take them," said Westcott.“OEMs realise that to stay alive you have to sell cars - if Australians aren’t buying the EVs then we have to bring combustion and all the other powertrains to market and that will continue to happen despite the penalties because if the demand isn’t there, you haven’t got a business. It’s simple economics.“Every brand has to cover the cost of those penalties to survive and if customers are only buying single digit (percentages) of EVs - everyone is going to be copping penalties,” he said.Westcott still backs PHEVs in the short term.“We believe this is the correct transition technology. Our customers use their car in pure EV mode 83 per cent of the time," said Westcott.“ our customers have reduced emissions by 83 per cent right here, right now, today, with zero investment in infrastructure.“And if I wanted to do a trip to Melbourne, or Sydney, or across the Nullabor to Perth. It doesn’t matter, the car can do it.”Westcott was also blunt about how he sees the choice to remove the fringe benefits tax exemption, which (along with the original EV exemption) caused a spike in interest for PHEV models, was a political error when it comes to emissions reduction.“Stopping the FBT exemption on PHEVs was a mistake - Look what it did! PHEV Outlander was 20 - 25 per cent of the mix, it worked. It comes back to the carrots and the sticks. If we had a few more carrots it works. Lets do it.”It’s worth noting Mitsubishi has everything to gain by such changes. It currently doesn’t field a fully electric vehicle, with plans to bring in the eK X electric city car shelved after a brief local evaluation program.Plus, some manufacturers with diverse offerings in their line-ups have spoken out in favour of the NVES, as models they currently import from Europe or China already comply with even more stringent regimes in their respective home markets.Chinese manufacturers, meanwhile, are squeezing Mitsubishi on its plug-in hybrid home turf with unprecedented price-tags attached to incoming versions of the Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 PHEV competing on price with combustion Outlanders and undercutting Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV by a significant margin.Mitsubishi isn’t alone though. Japanese manufacturers seem to be in particular trouble, as they struggle to adjust to a regulatory environment much more hostile to their historically popular nameplates. Subaru, Isuzu, Mazda, and to some extent, even Toyota will have work to do in the coming years if they want to avoid painful fines under the new laws.

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Mitsubishi has officially confirmed pricing and specifications for its new Club Cab and Cab Chassis Triton variants as it introduces additional sub-one-tonne payload options.The new Club Cab body style will apply to the GLX and GLX+ variants in respective cab chassis and pickup guises. They are a two-door, four-seat configuration that carry smaller rear seats while maintaining a full-sized rear tray or tub.Pricing will commence at $47,240 for the GLX Club Cab Chassis and $50,340 for the GLX+ Club Cab Pickup, both of which come standard with four-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic gearbox.New cab chassis body type options will apply to two- and four-wheel-drive GLX variants in both six-speed manual and automatic forms, as well as the GLX+, GLS and GSR variants, the latter of which are only available in automatic and four-wheel drive guises.Additionally, Mitsubishi has added sub-one-tonne payload options for the Triton GLX, GLX+ and GLX-R variants in Double Cab Pickup guise, a strategic move to make more variants qualify for novated leasing, according to Australian tax regulations.It follows a similar decision made to the high-grade GLS and GSR variants in August last year.No changes have been made to the Triton’s 2.4-litre four-cylinder bi-turbo diesel engine, which provides 150kW/470Nm as standard across the range.Standard features on the entry-grade GLX included cloth seat trim, a vinyl floor, driver's seat electric lumbar support, 17-inch steel wheels, a 9.0-inch multimedia display, high- and low-range drive modes (only on 4WD variants) as well as heavy-duty rear suspension.The GLX+ adds a rear differential lock, 17-inch silver alloy wheels, side-steps, rear-window privacy glass, halogen front fog lamps, rear USB-C and USB-A ports and digital radio (DAB).GLX-R variants get even bigger 18-inch black alloys, Mitsubishi's Super Select 4WD-II system, terrain control, hill descent control, a black sports bar, carpet flooring and a leather steering wheel.Mitsubishi's best-selling grade, the GLS, gets grey 18-inch alloy wheels, electric folding outdoor mirrors, LED headlamps and daytime running lights, a black Mitsubishi embossed grille, soft-touch interior materials with silver stitching, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, a wireless charger and push-button start.Headlining the range is the GSR with black 18-inch alloys, leather seats with orange stitching, plastic wheel arches, roof rails, electronically-adjustable driver's seat controls and a body-coloured front grille.All Triton variants carry a comprehensive suite of safety features, including front and rear autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control (automatic-transmission variants only), blind spot warning, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert and a rear parking camera with parking sensors.They are also covered by a 10-year/200,000 warranty, with 10 years of capped price servicing and four years of complimentary roadside assist.Mitsubishi has confirmed that the full Triton line-up, which is now 18 variants strong, will be progressively introduced to the market through 2025, commencing with the double-cab-cab-chassis variants.Sub one-tonne payload GLX, GLX+ and GLX-R variants will arrive in Q3, alongside single cab cab-chassis and club-cab variants.Triton sales have fallen 9.4 per cent this year to date from 2920 sales in the first two months of last year to 2643 sales as of February 2025. It follows a bumper year for the model in 2024, following the new-generation model's release last February.

Mitsubishi's Triton range will expand to once again include work-ready Cab Chassis models, including a manual 4x4!

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