Ringer wrote:One improvement would be stronger panels. I’m sick of seeing all the small shopping centre dents in the Tritons. For Christ sake, they are a 4X4 they should be able to take a few knocks. It appears that a Toyota corolla has stronger panels than the Triton.
MITSUBISHI Motors will launch the next-generation Triton one-tonne ute in 2014, and appears to have abandoned plans to co-develop the vehicle with Nissan.
The company’s global president, Osamu Masuko, revealed the plans for the popular Triton pick-up on his first visit to an Australian International Motor Show last week.
Nissan and Mitsubishi said in late 2010 they were discussing the joint development of their Thai-built Navara and Triton one-tonners, indicating the two workhorses were set to come off a shared platform.
However, Mr Masuko said in Sydney that Mitsubishi “does not have any plan to work with Nissan for the next (Triton) model – we will do that by ourselves”, then announced the ute’s launch timing “because so many people are here”.
Mitsubishi first revealed the current shape Triton seven years ago as one of the first one-tonne utes to move away from conservative, boxy utilitarian styling.
It went on sale in Australia in July 2006 and has since averaged a healthy 1355 units per month, with occasional forays into the mid-2000s and a peak of 3043 sales in June 2009.
Mitsubishi has sold 10,207 4x4 Tritons in Australia to the end of September this year, an increase of 16 per cent, giving it an 11.2 per cent segment share and third place behind the Toyota HiLux and Nissan Navara.
Meanwhile, 4107 4x2 Tritons have been sold in the same period, down 8.4 per cent but still earning an 11.3 per cent share and fourth place in the segment behind HiLux, Holden Ute and Ford Falcon Ute.
The all-new 2014 Triton will be all-Mitsubishi, despite reports of a platform tie-up with segment rival the Nissan Navara, also due to be reborn in 2014.
Speaking with TMR at this week's Australian International Motor Show (AIMS), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation President Osamu Masuko confirmed that the existing Triton/Navara-shared Thai production facility will be the extent of their relationship.
“We are developing it [Triton] ourselves”, Masuko-san said.
Rumours of a shared platform/development relationship similar to that of Ford and Mazda’s Ranger/BT50 and GM and Isuzu’s Colorado/D-Max had circulated last year, following an announcement of the shared production plant, which opened this year.
Significantly, 2014 is also expected to bring an all-new version of the segment-dominating Toyota HiLux rival, putting pressure on the new offerings from Mitsubishi and Nissan.
However, the next Triton, HiLux and Navara models will also benefit from a significant benchmarking period against the Ranger, BT-50, Colorado, D-Max and Volkswagen Amarok, which have all launched new-generation models in the last 12 months.
Details of the new Triton are scarce at this stage, but Mitsubishi has confirmed the continuation of a Challenger 4WD wagon offshoot - the previous model launched some time after the utility variants.
Be sure to keep an eye on TMR for any further 2014 Triton updates.
salt36 wrote:I wonder if they will bring back the V6 or the 3.2L rattler........
salt36 wrote:I wonder if they will bring back the V6 or the 3.2L rattler........
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