Mitsubishi says it won’t take hybrid technology from Alliance partners Nissan and Renault to hurry up the introduction of a hybrid Triton to showrooms, saying it should rely in its own resources as an alternative.
That’s despite Nissan, which has its e-Power hybrid powertrains, using the latest-generation Triton’s underpinnings for its latest Navara that’s due in Australian showrooms next yr.
Mitsubishi engineer Kaoru Sawase told CarExpert the automaker won’t share hybrid powertrains with Alliance partners Nissan and Renault despite what it sees as a “fast development” needed so as to add a hybrid Triton to its global lineup.
“Quite truthfully, we’re serious about developing this vehicle stand-alone,” Sawase-san said. “First, we would like to develop this Mitsubishi Motors technology, and there is no such thing as a impact of Nissan speeding up the method.”
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In 2016 Mitsubishi became a part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which was created in 1999, with the three automakers sharing platforms and engines to scale back development costs and achieve economies of scale.
The arrangement has led, for instance, to Mitsubishi rebadging the Renault Captur because the ASX, and its Outlander sharing its platform with the Nissan X-Trail.
“Even though it’s an alliance, we now have different firms and we now have so as to add cost for the differentiation in the intervening time… consequently of considering the overall cost we concluded that we’ll use our own technology,” said Sawase-san on a future Triton hybrid.
“Renault has its own hybrid technology, as does Nissan and Mitsubishi. Each brand has passions; other ways of it getting used, different character, different goals and goals.
“So so far as these technologies, each company will hold that technology to go towards the aim and the goal they need to attain.”
Mitsubishi announced in 2023 it had an electrical ute in its plans, but the brand’s global chief of engineering and product strategy, Hiroshi Nagaoka, said a hybrid – plug-in or otherwise – can be needed first.
The ‘electrified’ ute was planned to reach in showrooms by 2028, with the automaker not announcing any changes to this timeline since then.
The present-generation Triton was launched in 2023 and stays available in Australia only with a 150kW/470Nm 2.4-litre turbo-diesel engine and six-speed automatic – a powertrain also expected within the 2026 Navara.
Among the many Triton’s essential rivals, the new-generation Toyota HiLux has been confirmed to supply a battery-electric powertrain for 2026.
The Ford Ranger PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) arrived in Australia in mid-2025, shortly after the discharge of the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV utes, and there’s a raft of other hybrid and electrified utes on the horizon from brands including JAC and Chery.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
