Mitsubishi did sell, along with Chrysler, small trucks in the past.
A new Mitsu truck would be aimed squarely at the Ford Maverick.
Pickup truck segments are about growth. No matter the size or what powers these pickups, the market wants more. And there are loads of room for all players, especially those with a history. Mitsubishi once sold the Mighty Max (Dodge Ram 50), and remains available in areas like Australia and Southeast Asia. It looks as though Mitsubishi would like to add North America to the list.
1981 Dodge Ram 50 | Photo: Stellantis
Pickups are big business. Volkswagen is another automaker toying with reintroducing a small truck in North America, but unlike Mitsubishi, they have a “home turf” advantage thanks to its manufacturing facility. The Japanese automaker does not have such capabilities here though Nissan does…
“At the end of the day, we don’t have U.S. manufacturing right now, and fundamentally the Chicken Tax is [an obstacle to importing pickup trucks],” Carson Grover, Director for Product Planning in North America, said to the Drive. “You can’t just wedge that [global Triton] into somebody else’s plant over [here]. So anything we would do—and this is just hypothetical—we’d likely have to go to an alliance partner that does build [one].”
The Triton is Mitsubishi’s current midsize truck sold elsewhere in the world and continues to be very successful. In fact, it is rebadged as a Ram 1200 for South America and the Fiat Fullback for the European and Middle East markets.
Mitsubishi’s options for a new unibody pickup include one being based on the Nissan Rogue which already shares its underpinnings with the Outlander.
