Unprecedented sales of the Mitsubishi
Triton workhorse have led the company to announce it will release the
2010 model year Triton early to the Australian market. The current
model Triton has sold out and Mitsubishi has released details of the
new model to build up an order bank at dealerships. The all-new 2010
Challenger 4WD would go on sale in November also ahead of schedule.
At a briefing in Sydney yesterday Mitsubishi president and CEO Robert
McEniry also announced limited numbers of the company's i MiEV
electric car might be in showrooms by late this year. This would
make it the first all-electric car to go on sale in Australia since
electric cars came and went more than 100 years ago. “We are hoping to get 20, or I would
even be happy with 10, or five,” said Mr McEniry.
The i MiEV is expected to go on sale
for slightly more than Toyota's Prius hybrid which would put it in
the $45,000 to $50,000 ball park. Mr McEniry said he was attempting
to source the electric plug in car from other markets, with
world-wide demand for the vehicle.
Mitsubishi Australia's new confidence
comes from announcing it's first profit since 2002 – a bare $1
million, which represents a $356 million turnaround. This follows a
major re-structure of Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) on
the back of ceasing local production in Adelaide of the Mitsubishi
380 in March 2008.
“This profit, small as it is, is a
significant milestone for the company,” said Mr McEniry. “We are in business to make money and
making losses every year is not sustainable. “We can now look to grow the business
without looking over our shoulder all the time because of the
publicity surrounding local production.” The current Triton, launched in 2006,
has been a resounding success for Mitsubishi doubling sales and
currently accounts for 30 per cent of Mitsubishi volume in Australia.
2010 MITSUBISHI TRITON
The 2010 Triton will have major changes
over the current model including a new, high-powered 2.5 litre
turbo-diesel, greater towing capacity and a longer and higher tray on
the popular dual cab ute variants. The vehicle will also offer
improved safety standards with stability control and side and curtain
airbags available on diesel dual-cab models.
The 2.5 litre diesel turbo replaces the
3.2 litre diesel engine and delivers 131 kW or power (up 11 per cent
from 118 kW) and 400 Nm of torque (up 17 per cent from 343 Nm) while
returning economy figures of 8.3 litres/100 km, an improvement of
nine per cent. The improvements comes through changes to the
combustion chamber shape, optimized injector specifications and
adding a variable geometry turbo charger and increasing turbo
charging pressure.
While the dual cab comes only with the
turbo diesel, two wheel drive Triton keeps the existing 2.4 litre
petrol engine and the 2.5 litre diesel from the current line up. Two
automatic transmissions will be available on the high-powered diesel
variants – the carry-over four speed from the current line up and
on the GLX-R model an electronically controlled, five speed automatic
with sports mode. All 2010 Tritons have standard driver and front
passenger SRS airbags, ABS brakes with EBD, front seatbelt
pretensioners and child restraint points.
Active stability control and traction
control is also available on all high-powered diesel models and
passenger side and curtain airbags are available on all high powered
diesel dual cab models – and standard on the GLX-R models.
In addition to the engine and
transmission changes Triton has significant improvements in regard to
load size and towing capability. The dual cab now has a longer tray
at 1505 mm (was 1325mm) and tray height of 460mm (was 405mm) both 14
per cent larger than the current model. The 2010 FWD long bed Triton
can now tow 2700 kg (up from 2500kg) and 3000 kg on all other four
wheel drive variants.
Mitsubishi has also moved to simplify
the Triton range. There are eight two-wheel drive variants – the
petrol-powered manual GL cab chassis and GLX dual-cab, and automatic
or manual diesel powered GLX cab chassis and dual-cab and GL-R
dual-cab.
The new high-powered 2.5 litre engine
is available on four-wheel drive models in either manual or automatic
transmissions in GLX single cabs and dual cabs, GL-R dual cabs or
GLX-R dual cabs. Exterior features have been upgraded with new front
bumpers, grille and side-turning lamps, while inside new seat fabric
and seat pads, available sports seats and new instrument cluster,
floor console treatments along and a new sound system.
Triton will have a five year/130,000
whole vehicle warranty, backed up by its 10 year/160,000 km
powertrain warranty and five year/unlimited kilometre roadside
assistance package. Pricing is yet to be announced, but Mitsubishi
says there will be no `sticker shock' associated with the upgraded
features.
Yesterday's briefing was also told an
all-new Challenger medium-size four wheel drive was in the pipeline
for November this year, with Mitsubishi looking to take advantage of
the Federal Government's investment allowance.
i MiEV ELECTRIC CAR
Mr McEniry said customers for the i
MiEV would be selected by Mitsubishi Australia to be ambassadors for
the technology. He expected most cars to be leased and as such this
gave the company the ability to rotate the
car into the hands of more users. He admitted those driving the car
would need to become accustomed to the new technology.
“This car is about the future. The
future is about electric plug-in cars, hybrids and super-efficient
petrol and diesel engines. The i MiEV will be affordable, with people
understanding there is a new technology penalty.” He said the Federal Government needed
to be proactive in regard to incentives to purchase electric cars. He also said there was a
chicken-and-egg situation with plug in cars with service stations and
shopping centres waiting to see what would happen before they
invested in fast-charge stations to re-charge electric cars. “They
say they will install fast-chargers, when they see a demand,” he
said.
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