When people hear a product is innovative, they usually think of ground-breaking. Something entirely different from what they’re used to see at its market category. Applying that strategy is certainly great, specially for those who create such products, but public reception doesn’t always work the same way. On the other hand, it’s impossible to stay profitable selling the same stuff all the time. If only there was an “optimal amount” of innovation one could apply… Well, this is pretty much what every company looks for, not only regarding automobiles. Mitsubishi, as it turns out, made its large SUV its latest attempt to find such sweet spot.
Mitsubishi’s iconic SUV entered the 1990s in a tricky situation. The second generation gave it the typical increase in luxury and size (which took the prices up, as well), but it stayed loyal to its off-road origins. This way, between multiple versions and three and five-door bodies, the same Pajero could take who wanted to drive through difficult trails, who wanted to haul people in a modern way, and who just wanted to have fun. Things were far from bad, of course, but they wouldn’t last long like that: in order to keep pleasing such diverse customers, the natural tendency was to create a different SUV for each one, but to keep using the same name would devaluate it, and using a different one for each of them would bring the skepticism with which most people see products released for the first time.
The Japanese needed to escape from both those extremes, and the solution turned out to be innovating in the aforementioned optimal amount of innovation. Pajero was one of the first vehicles to have variations released with adaptations of its name. This strategy is being heavily used by Land Rover in nowadays, and consists of marketing different vehicles as versions of an initial one, in order to use the latter’s strong image. This way, people get a much better first impression of the newcomer while still being able to see it as a separate product in the future. Pajero’s “spin-offs” were basically two: a compact SUV, which was called iO, Mini, Pinin or TR4 depending on the country, and a midpoint between those. The latter one goes by the names of Challenger, Montero Sport, Nativa, Pajero Dakar… or Pajero Sport.
After two generations looking like an old-school large, non-luxury SUV, this article’s vehicle took the opportunity to adopt more modern styling cues. The front fascia, for instance, reminds of the automaker’s latest concept cars, not to mention the current Outlander. At the upper part, sleek headlights fused into the upper grille using a complex pattern of chrome inserts. Below those, everything becomes narrower at the level of the main grille, and wider again for the fog lights. The sides look more conventional, with the exception of the heavy ascension of the waist line after the C-pillars. But the rear is definitely Sport’s most interesting portion. This mut be the very first model to use vertical tail lights extended downwards, instead of mimicking the D-pillars. Small pieces of innovation appearing once again.
Opening the doors will remind you of what became a whole tendency in this category over the past few years: SUV models are still derived from pickups, but no longer merely as “closed-bed” versions of them; they became upscale alternatives to them. Mitsubishi made sure to follow that with Sport and the latest L200. The dashboard uses the same basic elements, but Sport was differentiated from the pickup by some key trim changes. Basically, its general design was taken to the next level through adding visual elements to extend it through the doors and between the seats, and more sophisticated steering wheel and gear lever. There were also some nice dimension changes: length, wheelbase and ground clearance increased to 4,785, 2,800 and 218 mm, while the height shrunk to 1,805 mm; the width stayed at 1,815 mm.
Speaking of technical information, performance figures are still officially undisclosed. This vehicle is expected to carry the new 2.4-liter turbo-diesel Mivec engine in the Thai market. L200 already extracts 178 hp of power and 317 lb-ft of torque from it. Besides, Mitsubishi will equip the SUV with an all-new eight-speed automatic transmission, while the outgoing car used a five-speed unit. According to the company, the new powertrain was responsible of decreasing fuel consumption by 17%, while keeping carbon dioxide emissions under 200 g/km. This model will surely be offered in many countries outside Asia, as well, but those should receive it next year. The all-new Pajero Sport should go on sale in that continent in the next few months.