Mitsubishi is the latest automaker to announce plans to enter the increasingly crowded market for midsize pickups. The move is part of the troubled Japanese automaker’s push to expand its light truck presence in the U.S. and requires a helping hand from Nissan, reports Headlight.News.
The last Mitsubishi pickup, the Raider, was a version of the Dodge Dakota.
Midsize pickup buyers now have more options than they’ve had in years — and the list of choices is set to continue expanding, Mitsubishi the latest brand set to enter the increasingly crowded segment.
The automaker recently announced plans to shore up its meager lineup with more light trucks. And it now says it will include a midsize pickup in the expanded mix.
Details weren’t released beyond noting that the new pickup will be produced in the U.S. with the help of Mitsubishi’s bigger Japanese ally, Nissan. It appears likely, according to several analysts, that the new truck will come to market in 2029, “around the time the new Nissan Frontier debuts,” said Sam Fiorani, lead analyst for AutoForecast Solutions.
What’s new
Mark Chaffin, Mitsubishi’s North American CEO, sent letters to the company’s U.S. dealer body reaffirming the auto brand’s commitment to North America.
Last November, Mitsubishi Motors North America CEO Mark Chaffin sent a letter to U.S. dealers declaring that the market “is a priority” for the company. As part of a “strategic shift,” it will launch a variety of new products, including more SUVs.
On May 29, global CEO Takao Kato went a step further, unveiling a new midterm business plan including the return of the flagship Pajero SUV. That will be joined by a new pickup.
“It’s about time,” said Fiorani. “Mitsubishi grew up in the U.S. with pickups which were core to the brand.”
A nod to the past
The Raider was dropped in 2009.
Mitsubishi offered several pickups over the years, at times producing its own models, at other times depending on the help of its one-time partner, Chrysler. The last of these trucks was the Mitsubishi Raider, a rebadged version of the Dodge Dakota.
It was dropped after the 2009 model year as the U.S. automaker started plunging towards bankruptcy and the long-running ties between Mitsubishi and Chrysler came to an end.
There has been talk of rebuilding those ties over the years, but such an alliance now appears unlikely as Mitsubishi is effectively under the control of Nissan. The larger automaker took a controlling stake in the smaller marque in 2016 as Mitsubishi teetered towards insolvency.
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What’s in store?
Though neither Mitsubishi nor Nissan are ready to discuss specifics, it appears the new pickup will be based on the next-generation Nissan Frontier, sources indicate. That truck will be based on a new body-on-frame platform Nissan is developing. The architecture will be used for a number of new products including the revised Nissan Xterra and, most likely, the new Mitsubishi Pajero.
A teaser image of the returning Nissan Xterra may also give a glimpse at the Pajero too.
Fiorani expects the Mitsubishi pickup will follow within a quarter or two after the next Frontier, sometime around 2029. He also anticipates that “they’re not likely to be very different, likely just the fascias.”
The new Pajero, pickup and other upcoming products are meant to give Mitsubishi a much-needed sales boost, Kato on Thursday forecasting sales could reach 930,000 by the early 2030s. That compares with 797,000 vehicles sold in the fiscal year that just ended on March 31. But the new forecast is actually down from Kato’s prior target of 1.1 million.
How much ground there is for a new Mitsubishi pickup is uncertain, especially considering the brand’s low visibility in the critical U.S. market. For one thing, it will go up against the best-selling Toyota Tacoma and strong runners-up Chevrolet Silverado and Ford Ranger. But, by the time it appears, Honda will have launched an updated version of the Ridgeline, which it will pull from production late this year for 18 months. And both Hyundai and Kia also plan to launch body-on-frame pickups by then, as well, company officials have told Headlight.News.
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