Mitsubishi Teases Ladder-Frame Chassis of Next-Gen Pajero Ahead of September Reveal
A new underbody shot confirms the revived Pajero, sold as the Montero in North America, will ride on a Triton-derived ladder frame with Mitsubishi's S-AWC system, ahead of a September 2 world premiere.
Mitsubishi released a new teaser image on August 4 showing the underbody of its next-generation Pajero, focusing on the ladder-frame chassis and suspension hardware ahead of the SUV's world premiere on September 2. The image, published alongside a report from Carscoops, is the latest in a staggered reveal campaign that has already shown pieces of the exterior, interior and a digital gauge cluster over the past several weeks.
The chassis itself carries real news. Mitsubishi confirmed the new Pajero shares its ladder-frame foundation with the Triton pickup, adapted with SUV-specific tuning. The company said the frame was engineered to "deliver high road-holding performance" while "suppressing unwanted body movement and vibrations over rough or uneven roads," language pulled straight from its own teaser materials rather than marketing gloss added after the fact.
Underpinning that frame is Mitsubishi's Super All-Wheel Control system, badged S-AWC, which will offer drivers a choice between rear-wheel drive, full-time four-wheel drive, a locked center differential, and a low-range setting with the differential locked. Mitsubishi also detailed seven selectable terrain modes: Normal, Eco, Gravel, Snow, Mud, Sand and Rock, giving the new SUV a broader spread of off-road settings than the outgoing generation offered.
Design details released in earlier teasers point to a boxy, upright silhouette with T-shaped LED lighting and a digital gauge pod mounted atop the dashboard, an homage to the Triple Multi Meter cluster found in older Pajero generations. Mitsubishi has paired the technical teasers with a trio of developer interviews on its official teaser site, featuring product planner Kunitoshi Itagaki, R&D lead Takaaki Matsumoto and designer Norihiko Yoshimine, though full interview transcripts have yet to be published.
The Pajero nameplate dates back to 1982 and has been dormant in several markets for years while Mitsubishi leaned on the Outlander and Eclipse Cross to carry its SUV lineup. Its return puts Mitsubishi back in a fight it largely sat out: the body-on-frame SUV segment currently dominated by the Toyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol. In North America and select other markets, the model will continue to wear the Montero badge it has used historically instead of Pajero.
Mitsubishi has not released powertrain specifications, pricing or on-sale timing beyond confirming the September 2 world premiere. Given the phased nature of the teaser campaign so far, exterior and interior reveals in full are likely to land in the weeks between now and that date.
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