Will Mitsubishi have a PHEV SUV and a mini electric vehicle?

Mitsubishi Group has just announced a comprehensive product development roadmap for the next six years, with plans to launch a total of 13 new models.

Not just the Pajero

Besides reviving the flagship Pajero SUV with its ladder-frame chassis, the Japanese automaker will expand this iconic model into a diverse family of vehicles, while also strengthening collaborative projects with its domestic rival Nissan.

Positioned within its product line optimized for off-road driving, the company also plans to develop a completely new minivan to replace the Delica D:5, which has been in production since 2007. This SUV lineup will be completed by two mysterious, yet-to-be-announced SUV models and an upgraded version of the Triton pickup truck.

Mitsubishi is expected to launch the Pajero in several markets this year. Photo: Mitsubishi .

In Southeast Asia specifically, the company will soon introduce a completely new generation of its popular Xpander family car after its last update in 2022.

The remaining five models in the company's six-year plan are products of global technology alliances. Most notably, this includes a collaboration with Nissan to research an entirely new pickup truck specifically for the North American market.

Meanwhile, another global pickup truck project is also being discussed by the two brands to optimize development costs and share hardware platforms amidst increasingly stringent emissions regulations in Europe.

Mini electric vehicles, developed using AI.

This joint venture also resulted in an all-electric coupe-style SUV developed on the Nissan Leaf platform, along with two kei-wagon models using both internal combustion and electric motors supplied by Nissan.

Additionally, the company is also finalizing another all-electric SUV model in collaboration with Foxconn.

The Japanese automaker's technology roadmap will depend entirely on green solutions, as there are no traditional internal combustion engine models in its lineup of 13 new products.

Mitsubishi's new product range is expected to include up to five all-electric models. Photo: Mitsubishi .

Among these, there are 5 models using conventional hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) configurations, 5 models equipped with plug-in hybrid systems (PHEV), and 3 fully electric vehicles (BEV).

To achieve this goal, the company's engineering team is independently researching specialized engine blocks for PHEV and HEV systems that achieve optimal thermal efficiency of up to 48%, leading the industry today.

This high-performance engine technology will be applied uniformly across all product lines, including SUV models that utilize a body-on-frame chassis, which is inherently heavy.

To cope with the rapid product launches from new competitors in the market, the Japanese automaker is applying artificial intelligence and comprehensive digital transformation to its design process. This technology helps cut engineering development time by 20%, shortening the cycle of bringing a car from design to market from 45 months previously to just 36 months to meet customer delivery deadlines.

Source: https://znews.vn/mitsubishi-se-co-suv-phev-xe-dien-mini-post1656498.html