The Mitsubishi Pajero is dead, but a new concept could preview a new flagship SUV for the Japanese brand.
The plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Elevance Concept has debuted at this week’s Tokyo motor show, and while it hasn’t been confirmed to preview a production vehicle – let alone one dusting off the iconic Pajero nameplate – it’s not hard to visualise one of these in showrooms after some changes.
One of the changes that would likely be made for a theoretical production version would be the removal of the concept’s unusual doors, which feature transparent sections below the expected windows.
There are also solar panels on the roof – not complete concept car fantasy, as vehicles like the Genesis Electrified G80 have these, but not a feature we’d expect to see on a production Mitsubishi.
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The concept wears aggressive front- and rear-end styling like other recent Mitsubishis such as the Xforce and Destinator SUVs – both of which, we might add, made the transition from concept to production vehicle largely unscathed.
The Elevance turns up the drama, with unusual multi-tier LED daytime running lights up front, flanking a largely closed-off grille area with honeycomb detailing further down. It’s an evolution, Mitsubishi says, of its Dynamic Shield grille design.
The concept has a fairly linear roofline, but its side profile has some excitement in the form of an unusual C/D-pillar treatment. The bodywork steeply drops away towards the rear of the vehicle, with this sharp edge lined with part of the expansive rear lighting assembly.
Mitsubishi is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) pioneer, so it’s no surprise the Elevance uses such a powertrain.
The company says it uses a “quad-motor 4WD system” with the brand’s Super-All Wheel Control (S-AWC) technology and “dual-motor Active Yaw Control at the rear”.
Mitsubishi says this not only ensures superior handling on the road, but also enhanced capability off-road too with a comfortable ride on bitumen and off.
While it notes the Elevance has a “large-capacity” battery, Mitsubishi hasn’t detailed any specifications for this or the powertrain.
AI is the latest buzzword in the automotive industry, as in many other industries, and Mitsubishi has therefore incorporated what it calls AI Co-Driver which “encourages exploration into the unknown by suggesting destinations tailored to each driver’s lifestyle”.
This feature is displayed both on the instrument panel and on a screen embedded in the steering wheel, and uses AI technology to analyse surrounding conditions and the vehicle’s status in real time.
There are plenty of screens inside the cabin, with the steering wheel unit accompanied by displays spanning from one A-pillar to another. A raft of exterior cameras allows you to, for example, view footage from front blind spots on the in-car displays.
A minimalist centre stack features a single row of switchgear, while a floating centre console features a large rotary dial.
There’s seating for six people across three rows, with captain’s chairs in the second row. The front-row seats can also be turned around to face the second row when the vehicle is stationary.
In 2024, Japanese outlet Best Car Web reported the Pajero nameplate would return on a new plug-in hybrid SUV related to the Outlander, set for debut in 2027 and spanning 4.9 metres long. Subsequent reports, however, have suggested the Pajero nameplate could return on the next-generation Pajero Sport.
There is precedent for a Pajero with unibody construction – the last two generations featured this, in contrast to the body-on-frame Pajero Sport and its Challenger predecessor – but the flagship Mitsubishi SUV has never shared a platform with the Outlander.
Mitsubishi also hasn’t offered a large crossover since the 2004-11 Endeavor, developed for North America as a rival for the Toyota Highlander (Kluger). Unusually, this model – using a platform shared with the Galant/380 – didn’t offer a third row of seating.
The fourth-generation Pajero exited production in 2021, when its factory – which produced every generation of the nameplate – was sold off by Mitsubishi. Company executives have subsequently said they’d like to bring the model back, but such a revival has yet to eventuate.
