Inside, the two-tone baseball-mitt-and-black color scheme should be familiar to anyone who has sat in a nicely-equipped Outlander, but the monolithic screen setup with separate volume and HVAC controls on a panel beneath is a new one on us, and a design we hope will come to other Mitsubishis. As expected, there is no shortage of padded leather on the dash or quilting on the seats. Also as expected, the Pajero will offer a full suite of safety and driver-assistance systems, a comprehensive bird’s-eye parking camera, and a Yamaha sound system. The latter is one of the things that impressed us the most in the latest iteration of the Outlander, and if that sounds like a backhanded complement, well, it is.
Why We Are Skeptical About Montero’s American Return
There are a lot of buyers who, we think, would go nuts for a new U.S.-market Montero. So why, despite Mitsubishi’s official tease, are we skeptical of a Montero coming to the United States, at least as we see it here?
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First, the new Pajero is, according to Mitsubishi, based on the L200/Triton pickup, which has not been certified for U.S. sale. (If it was, Mitsubishi might take a crack at selling it here.) The U.S. has very stringent safety standards, and if a given vehicle or platform was not designed with sale here in mind, modifying it can be prohibitively expensive. Second, the turbodiesel engine is, most likely, a no-go for American buyers—even if it could meet emissions standards, it’d be a tough sell even without diesel prices where they are.
We can’t think of a U.S.-market Mitsubishi powerplant that would be suitable for a Montero-sized vehicle. The Outlander PHEV has the torque, but its engine is mounted transversely, not longitudinally as the Pajero uses, and we can’t imagine Mitsubishi going to the reengineering and recertification costs for what would likely be a low-volume vehicle.
Of course, corporate partner Nissan has several engines that would work very well in a vehicle like this, either the twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 from the Armada or the hard-working 3.8-liter VQ in the Frontier pickup. Again, though, that’d require expensive recertification. It would make a lot more sense (financially, at least) to slap the Montero badge on a restyled Armada—and based on our experience with the Armada Pro-4X, it would make a pretty decent Montero.
We’re excited about the return of the Pajero, but not overly optimistic for a U.S.-market Montero—but, hey, Mitsubishi didn’t say never.
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