Picking up the pace:Mitsubishi Motors updates Triton/Strada pickup in bid to boost global sales

SOUTHEAST Asia remains the single biggest destination for Mitsubishi Motors Corporation’s (MMC) global vehicle deliveries as the region took in 152,000 units during the first half of the 2018 fiscal year, according to an official company report released on Nov. 6. The figure makes up 25.6% of the car maker’s 594,000-unit global sales volume during the same six-month stretch.
MMC sold 1.1 million vehicles globally in fiscal year 2017.
MMC also saw its strongest growth results in the region as first-half sales in Southeast Asia increased 36% year-on-year, outpacing those in Europe and Russia — 29% up, with 112,000 units sold — and in China, whose 82,000-unit tally represents a 19% uptick. MMC’s China results match the company’s global performance during the same period.
Among Southeast Asian countries, MMC, in the same report, credited the “strong sales” of the Mitsubishi Xpander MPV in Indonesia (the model was released in Indonesia in 2017, and is also built there), and that of the Triton pickup truck, “predominantly in Thailand,” for the company’s improvement in the region.
Clearly, then, the Triton is a key product for Mitsubishi. And so MMC holding a global premiere on Nov. 9 in Bangkok, Thailand — the pickup is produced in Mitsubishi’s Laem Chabang plant in Thailand — for what is essentially an upgraded model, rather than an all-new one, can be expected. A lot rides on this pickup’s bed.
As MMC chief executive officer Osamu Masuko said during the latest Triton’s launch program, the model is the “solid foundation on which we will grow our business in Thailand, the ASEAN region and the world.”
He added the truck’s “success will accelerate the momentum of the company’s sustainable growth.”
The development is as significant to the Philippines (where it is sold as the Strada); the country is among the leading consumers globally of this one-ton pickup model.
MMC general manager for global pickup promotion office Koichi Namiki, in a presentation during the world reveal, also stressed the Triton’s importance: “This is a vehicle we export to 150 countries, and produce 160,000 units [of] per year. It is our second-largest selling product and the backbone of Mitsubishi Motors.”
Following the global reveal, the Triton went on sale in Thailand starting Nov. 17. It will be introduced next to other Southeast Asian countries, then to markets in Oceania, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Latin America (that journalists from Mexico and Chile were present at the Bangkok launch program already bared two markets in the region which will get the revised Triton). The Philippines is set to start selling the model in the first quarter of 2019.
CHANGES
In developing the latest Triton, Mr. Namiki said MMC sales and service personnel, as well as engineers, first sought feedback from the model’s users, with their responses then given to the company’s product development team. The executive continued that any new Mitsubishi model should always be an improvement over the one in replaces.
“It is not enough to develop a new model just to pass the technical standards or test criteria…. That’s the way we’ve been working to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”
Mr. Namiki said buyers of pickup trucks these days “expect features found in passenger cars,” noting the behavior is becoming “more popular even among business users who are… in the vehicle most of the day.”
So the Triton sees slight changes to its cabin. A new trim frames the switchgear panel and air vents, and a soft, padded material with contrasting stitching lines the console, armrests and parking brake lever. More important, a six-speed automatic transmission replaces the current five-speed gearbox, promising a more refined operation due to smoother shifts and quicker acceleration. The pickup’s ride quality should also improve with the use of larger dampers, containing more fluid, in the rear (larger capacity dampers benefit both shock absorption and rebound whether the truck’s bed is empty or laden).
But the most visible change made to the Triton is its front-end styling. The model now adheres to the corporate “Dynamic Shield” design language, meaning it closely resembles the Montero Sport that’s based on it, as well as the Xpander. The Triton’s hood line has been raised, along with the narrower and more angular lamps and grille. Another set of lights cluster within large cavities flanking a prominent opening below the grille.
The front end’s sculpted contours are matched at the sides by angular fenders and wheel cutouts, as well as by pronounced character lines that slash across the top of the front genders and the pickup bed’s exterior walls. The truck’s edgy greenhouse shape is unchanged, but the tailgate, rear lamps and bumper have all turned plainer looking.
SIBLING RIVALRY?
As a part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance (since 2017, a year after Nissan Motor acquired a 34% stake in Mitsubishi), MMC said its development of its products — especially those competing against Renault’s and Nissan’s in the same segments; the Triton against the Nissan Navara, for instance — remains largely independent from the group. This, even if the three car makers take advantage of each one’s strengths.
“Products can be based on an Alliance platform,” said MMC senior vice-president Guillaume Cartier during a news conference preceding the Triton’s global debut. “But there is no cross-branding.”
Cross-branding refers to identical models sold by different car makers as their own, despite minimal changes made to the vehicles.
Regarding intra-group competition, Mr. Cartier likened the situation to motor racing; “There are no team orders.”
MMC chief operating officer Trevor Mann noted; “It’s an advantage for Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi to have different technologies so customers can pick what fits them.”
Mr. Cartier added that pickups are a “key expertise of Mitsubishi.”
In a meeting with journalists held at MMC’s Tokyo, Japan, headquarters exactly a year ago on the day the new Triton was launched in Bangkok, Mr. Masuko explained the Alliance, as the case has always been between Nissan and Renault, will “respect” each company’s brand history and management autonomy, separating each one’s marketing and sales efforts while aiming for “greater synergy impact” in financial management, parts procurement, vehicle platform and advanced technology development, and other areas.
“It’s best if we can ‘commonize’ platforms, centralize procurement, and develop new technologies,” Mr. Masuko said.
The Alliance, the executive stressed, also puts the group in a “well-balanced” position worldwide as each company enjoys a strong presence in different markets, citing that “Nissan is strong in North America, Renault in Europe, and Mitsubishi in Southeast Asia.” — Brian M. Afuang