Mitsubishi Australia is working on a locally-modded Raptor-fighting Triton.
The Ford Ranger Raptor opened the door for a lot of pick-up truck manufacturers to create increasingly off-road performance-oriented versions of their commercial vehicles. Now with a new generation of the Raptor on its way, Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi is gearing up for competition.
Their latest Triton is getting a little long in the tooth. This 5th gen model appeared in 2015 and got an extensive facelift in 2018 before arriving in Malaysia a year later. With the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance strengthening, it’s likely Mitsubishi will be put in charge of a mid-sized truck for all three companies by 2024. To send off this Triton though, some markets might get a special Raptor competitor.
This news comes out of Australia, where the local Mitsubishi representative recently confirmed to CarsGuide that they are exploring options with an ‘internationally renowned third party to create the ultimate Triton variant. Whether or not it will bear Ralliart badging is unclear. It is possible that the Triton Absolute concept will be used as a basis of this upcoming hardcore variant. The same 2.4L MIVEC VGT Diesel would power this new variant as there is no need for additional power.
This would put it up against not only the Ford Ranger Raptor, but also the Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior and Toyota Hilux Rugged X. Both of these Japanese competitors are not available locally in those specifications, so Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia may also look at the upgrade pack as unfeasible for our market, especially if these upgrades are done in Australia and not at the Thailand plant where Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia sources their stock of pick-up trucks.
That being said, if you look at the number of RM200,000 Ford Ranger Raptors being sold in Malaysia, you could make the case for such an extensive pick-up truck makeover for the Malaysian market. And given how big the fanbase of Ralliart is in Malaysia, it could be argued that even a mild Triton Ralliart specification would be a hot seller in this country.
What do you think? Would a localised upgrade package of the Triton be appealing to Malaysian customers? How many upgrades would be necessary? Could they get away with just some all-terrain tyres, a bull bar and a different paint/decal scheme or will more be necessary?
