The off-road-focused midsize pickup market in the United States is having a bit of a moment these days. The category that was solely defined by the likes of the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier just 15 years ago has since seen the resurrection of the Chevy/GMC Colorado/Canyon and the Ford Ranger, as well as the arrival of the Jeep Gladiator; soon, it'll also see the return of the Dodge Ram Dakota, as well as new offerings from Kia and Hyundai and the (eventual) arrival of the Scout Terra.
And, as it turns out, a new Mitsubishi pickup truck will soon be joining the mix in the States, as well. The Japanese carmaker announced the plan on Friday, during the rollout of a new business plan for the company. And Mitsubishi will not be going it alone; the automaker will leverage its existing partnership with Nissan to create the new pickup, with the new Mitsu to be built in North America at one of the latter's facilities here—presumably, the Canton, Mississippi facility that Nissan announced last month will be doubling down on internal-combustion trucks and SUVs like the reborn Xterra due in 2028.
View Price on AmazonGiven Nissan's U.S. lineup currently consists of exactly one pickup since the Titan full-sizers met the hangman's noose in 2024, that suggests the future Mitsubishi pickup will likely be based on the Frontier. While the current Frontier's skeleton dates back to the model introduced in January 2004, the pickup is due for a new generation based on a thoroughly reinvigorated body-on-frame chassis around 2028, according to Automotive News. Given it seems unlikely Mitsubishi would go to the trouble of launching a new model on an aging platform bound for the door, that likely puts the brand's pickup in showrooms no earlier than 2029.
The North America truck will seemingly not share its underpinnings with Mitsubishi's forthcoming body-on-frame Pajero, however. Mitsubishi made a note of pointing out that said off-road-focused SUV will be built in Thailand using the ladder frame chassis of the Triton pickup that's sold in Africa, Asia, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand, while also teasing the new sport-ute's front end in a haze-concealed image.
Whether the Pajero—whose predecessors were sold in the United States as the Montero for several generations—happens to also make its way Stateside remains a question mark, for the moment; when pressed on the issue, Mitsubishi CEO Takao Kato said U.S. sales were under discussion but "nothing has been decided yet," according to AN.
As for what the future U.S.-market Mitsubishi pickup could be called, details are slim to none so far. The brand's last pickup sold in the States, the Raider, was a Dodge Dakota with a fourth-gen Eclipse's front end tacked on; that name certainly wouldn't be out of place amongst the adventurous monikers found on American trucks today, but personally, I'm hoping the carmaker dusts off the name it used in the '70s and '80s. "The 2030 Mitsubishi Mighty Max" has a certain charm to it...
Source: roadandtrack.com
