Mitsubishi Motors’ New Pajero Unveiled at Tokyo Event

Tokyo, Sept. 2 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp. unveiled the new Pajero, an SUV model, at an event in Tokyo on Wednesday, with sales in the country scheduled to start Dec. 17. The release will mark the Pajero’s return after its production for domestic sale ended seven years ago. Prices and other details will be announced Oct. 29. At the presentation event, Mitsubishi Motors President Keisuke Kishiura described the new Pajero as the company’s “flagship model.” The new model “embodies” Mitsubishi Motors, he also said. “We invested everything we have, including our technology, in the new Pajero.” The diesel-engine vehicle will also be sold in Thailand, from mid-October, and in Australia, from early December. The company aims to sell a total of 10,000 units in the three countries this fiscal year. The new Pajero will be released in more Southeast Asian countries, and in the Middle East and Latin America in the next fiscal year or later. Mitsubishi Motors will launch two smaller versions in the future while considering rolling out gasoline and hybrid versions as well. “We’ll adopt an engine that suits the vehicle size,” Kishiura said. The first-generation Pajero debuted in 1982, leading Japan’s SUV boom at the time. No new model announcement has been made since 2006, however, and production for the domestic market ended in 2019. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]