When the all-new Delica came out, we already knew a lot of Filipino car buyers would want it. We saw a lot of potential in it, and it appeared a lot of our readers agreed. But life went on as usual, and to this day, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines (MMPC) still lacks a van in its lineup.
Earlier this week, though, I took a deep dive into Top Gear Philippines’ Facebook inbox—know that we regularly read your messages, it’s just that it isn’t me in charge—and I noticed something from a few weeks back: We got a ton of inquiries regarding the Mitsubishi Delica Mini. Why? Simply because we put out a story on how it won the Japan Car of the Year 2023-2024 best design award. Just that. It wasn’t even a new release.
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Readers were asking us when the Delica Mini was arriving, and how much it’ll be. Heck, some people straight up asked as if we were actually selling the tiny Mitsubishi. We’re not a dealer or a grey-market importer, guys. Come on.
It’s both funny and sad. Funny because people think we have Delica Minis on sale, and sad because a lot of people just failed to read even the entire title. It never even said anything about a car going on sale. We honestly have no idea where they got that from. But be that as it may, it also tells us one thing: There’s a lot of interest among Filipinos in this small offering.
Would this be enough to convince MMPC to bring the kei van here? Probably not. And it’s not the kind of van we said the carmaker’s missing in its local lineup anyway. But hey, this just goes to show that there might be merit in introducing kei cars and other small vehicles here in the Philippines. If the price is right, people might just bite. We hope Mitsubishi and other car manufacturers start looking for ways to make it possible.
For now, we’re not betting on the Delica Mini to make its way here. But if Mitsubishi were to introduce something new, we wouldn’t be mad if it were just Deli Maru. I know I’d buy one.
