Earlier this month, reports surfaced of Honda’s plans to rebadge the Mitsubishi Triton. This move would fill a gap in the Honda lineup, which currently lacks a rugged ladder-frame pickup truck. The sole truck in the stable is the Ridgeline, a light-duty unibody pickup sold in the North American market.
Both automakers have now formalized the arrangement by signing a memorandum of agreement. Mitsubishi will supply Triton units to Honda, and the badge-engineered model will arrive by 2028. Honda explicitly states that its future pickup truck is destined for ASEAN markets, which should include the Philippines.
Honda adds: “This marks the first initiative between [Honda and Mitsubishi] for complementary supply to each other’s product lineups.” The model-sharing setup has been in discussion since 2024, when the Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance was formalized. Notably, Nissan previously rebadged and retuned the Triton into the 2026 Nissan Navara for Australia and New Zealand.
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The complementary supply setup also lets alliance members enhance their respective lineups by tapping into their peers’ specialties. In turn, this allows them to address the needs of specific markets more quickly and efficiently.
In this case, we can speculate that Nissan and Honda believe that Mitsubishi currently has the edge in the pickup market—a popular segment in Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The alliance can simply leverage that strength instead of sinking more resources into starting from scratch.
Honda ends its statement by reiterating that the alliance will continue working to enhance each other’s competitiveness by “fully utilizing their respective products and technological assets.”
Get those gears turning: What else could Honda, Mitsubishi, and Nissan rebadge from each other? A Mirage-based Nissan hatchback? A Livina-based Honda MPV? Or maybe even...a Civic-based Mitsubishi Lancer? Only time will tell just how far these allies will push their model-sharing scheme. We’ll check back on this Honda pickup in 18 months or so—for now, let us know what you think in the comments.
