Mitsubishi reveals fully redesigned Pajero Sport

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has taken the covers off its first full-redesign of the Pajero Sport mid-size SUV in seven years in Thailand. The SUV is manufactured at Mitsubishi Motors’ (Thailand) Laem Chabang Plant. Sales start in Thailand later this year, and MMC plans to introduce the all-new Pajero Sport sequentially in Australia, the ASEAN nations, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Russia and, as with its predecessor, to sell the new model in some 90 countries. We expect the Pajero Sport to come to India sometime in the future. 

The 'Dynamic Shield' front fascia, as the carmaker calls it, is radical in its appearance. Similar to the one seen on the Outlander facelift that Mitsubishi revealed overseas, it features plenty of chrome and sleek-looking headlights and there are also the LED daytime-running lights. The rest of the design draws inspiration from the GR-HEV concept which was shown at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, and the rear has attractive-looking arrow-like tail-lights with reflectors running all the way down to the bumper.
In the cabin, the Pajero Sport is quite identical to Mitsubishi’s L200/Triton pickup; the Pajero Sport is also based on the Triton. There is a generous amount of brushed silver here. It seems to be spacious, and is equipped with large leather seats. The centre console is dominated by a touchscreen.
As for the mechanicals, the Pajero Sport in the global markets gets a 2.4-litre MIVEC turbo-diesel engine mated to a new eight-speed automatic gearbox. Although the power output hasn’t been confirmed, in the Triton pickup, the motor comes in two states of tune — 152bhp and 178.5bhp. The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport also gets the option of a four-wheel drive.

This powertrain returns a 17-percent improvement in fuel economy over its predecessor. It also achieves CO₂ emissions of under 200 g/km which puts it into the lowest bracket of the new excise tax structure to be introduced in Thailand in January 2016.

The Pajero Sport gets comprehensive active and passive safety features. MMC says its own RISE impact safety body design and a total of seven SRS airbags provide occupants with outstanding passive safety. Active safety features include Forward Collision Mitigation system (FCM), the Blind Spot Warning system (BSW, a first on a Mitsubishi model) and the Ultrasonic mis-acceleration Mitigation System (UMS).

The production of the previous Pajero Sport started in Thailand in 2008 and it was launched in Russia the same year, after which it was rolled out sequentially in Thailand, the ASEAN nations, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Australia and China. Local production of the model also began in Brazil in January 2011, in Vietnam in July 2011, Bangladesh in August 2011, in Russia in July 2013 and in China in October 2013. Cumulative unit sales had reached some 400,000 at the end of June 2015.