Mitsubishi Triton hybrid could launch in early 2024, saving fuel significantly

Information in Nikkei Asia newspaper said that a new hybrid car model will be assembled by Mitsubishi in Thailand in early 2024.

Mitsubishi will boost hybrid vehicle assembly in Southeast Asia from 2024, with a strong candidate to go into production from early 2024 called the new Triton - Photo: Mitsubishi

According to Nikkei Asia, Mitsubishi Motors will start producing hybrid vehicles in Thailand from early 2024. The milestone marks the first time Mitsubishi has produced hybrid vehicles outside of Japan.

Mitsubishi Thailand will produce a hybrid version of its flagship Xpander minivan in the region. In November, it will launch a new SUV and “in the near future” an undisclosed hybrid.

According to Drive, the hybrid vehicle is none other than the Mitsubishi Triton . This version is confirmed by the source to have entered the final development stage. The hybrid technology developed by the company based on the Xpander also promises to appear on many other models.

This source confirmed that the Japanese car company is confident that this segment will continue to attract customers in the region for at least another 10 years.

They believe that developing countries will need more time for a large number of users to switch to pure electric vehicles. The reason is that the selling price of this segment of cars is still high while the infrastructure to serve it is not complete.

Xpander is a name that has been confirmed to have a hybrid version in the region. Currently, this name alone contributes 10% of the company's sales in Southeast Asia - Photo: Reuters

Locally assembling hybrid vehicles will help Mitsubishi better compete with Chinese automakers . These new rivals are increasingly expanding their influence in Southeast Asia, with an increasing number of automakers and models participating.

In addition to thickening the lineup with hybrid cars, Mitsubishi also brought in kei cars (including electric cars) which are very cheap to compete with Chinese goods. The Southeast Asian market has long been the most important market for Mitsubishi and they do not want their platform here to be affected by new competitors.

In the last 5 years, their operating profit reached 307.1 billion yen (50,400 billion VND), of which Southeast Asia contributed... 70% of the above figure.

In addition to Thailand, Mitsubishi is also considering expanding hybrid vehicle assembly to Indonesia to take advantage of the country's available nickel reserves.

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