Another year, and another story about the Mitsubishi Pajero staging a comeback has surfaced. It’s a bit like Mazda bringing back the rotary sports car, then. We wait for official updates from the manufacturer, only for everyone’s hopes to be dashed the following year.
Yes, we’d like the iconic nameplate to return. Heck, even the guys over at Mitsubishi want to make it happen. But is it realistic?
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Japanese automotive publication Best Car stirred the pot yet again by suggesting that an all-new Pajero will appear sometime in 2027. It’s a bold prediction, but some of Best Car’s wildest rumors have become reality.
The publication says that the revived Pajero will utilize an enlarged version of the Outlander’s platform. Before you go up in arms saying why it’ll be unibody, remember that the last two generations of Pajero shifted to that. Note that Mitsubishi once said that, if it were to revive its flagship SUV, it wouldn’t rely on fellow Alliance member Nissan for that
It has also been mentioned that there will be no diesel for this iteration. Instead, it might use Mitsubishi’s latest plug-in hybrid system as seen in the Outlander. Best Car reports it should make more power than its current iteration which makes 248hp and 450Nm of torque. Should that be the case, it could be worthy successor to the 3.8-liter V6 and should provide more grunt under the hood.
So, why have the rumors swirled again. If you recall, Mitsubishi released a teaser photo showing its planned models for this decade. One of them appeared to be a tall, boxy SUV that was initially thought to be the next Montero Sport. But now that there’s a second teaser that showed a differed midsize SUV, the first one hinted at an all-new Pajero.
On top of that, there’s an interesting development over in the US. Recently, Mitsubishi Motors North America filed a trademark registration for the name Montero. The Montero is what the Pajero was called in North America throughout its production run, adding fuel to the rumor mill fire.
Only time will tell if these alleged plans will come to fruition. But one thing is for sure, Mitsubishi will want to bring back that Pajero in one way or another.
