Mitsubishi is still planning a new generation of its long-running Mitsubishi Shogun off-roader but won’t commit to its development until it can be sure that it will be profitable.
The heavy-duty seven-seat 4x4, known as the Pajero in some markets, is one of the firm’s longest-running models, dating back to 1982. The current, fourth-generation model dates from 2006 – and is heavily based on the previous generation that was launched in 1999. A replacement has been planned within the firm for years.
While tightening emissions and safety regulations mean that the current Shogun has a limited shelf life, Mitsubishi has struggled to balance the high cost of developing a hardcore off-roader with the limited market for such vehicles.
Trevor Mann, Mitsubishi’s chief operating officer, said the firm “has a passion” to produce a new Shogun but that “we’ve not defined our position yet”.
He added: “It’s something that our engineers really want to do, but we’ve got to make sure we have the right business case, and that segment is naturally shrinking due to emissions regulations. We need to make sure that when we do something, we do it properly and it’s future-proofed.”
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance is beginning to implement shared platforms across its brands, and that would help to spread the development costs, but neither Renault nor Nissan currently makes a comparable off-road vehicle that would utilise a similar platform.
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The patrol is quite a bit
The patrol is quite a bit bigger than the shogun/pajero and is a separate ladder frame chassis I think...5.6L V8 petrol anyone! ITs a size above the shogun with more i common with the 200 series full size Landruiser (cannot buy any of these in the UK). Nevertheless they should be able to align these two or even align the Shogun with Nissan Pathfider equivalent which is more in line with the Shoguns size.
What they need to do FIRST is
What they need to do FIRST is employ a European designer and drop their diesel engines! FFS!
That bloke wrote:
Really? I love Japanese design.