Last month, Mitsubishi Motors announced the Pajero and Montero will receeived a global premiere in the fall, making their return after being discontinued overseas in 2021.

Given the Pajero’s decorated rally raid history like its 12 Dakar Rally overall victories, it makes sense that Mitsubishi would ask its rally division for input. Team Mitsubishi Ralliart doesn’t field the Pajero and instead uses the Triton, but any data they accumulated in the field at the Asia Cross Country Rally can be used for both vehicles.

Mitsubishi is the reigning AXCR champ courtesy of Chayapon Yotha. For 2027, the team is fielding three Tritons for Yotha, Katsuhiko Taguchi, and Kazuto Koide, with some slight changes made from their 2025 winner. Yotha and Taguchi’s 2026 Triton os shorter than in 2025 at 4,920 millimeters long versus last year’s 5,070 (Koide’s retains the same length but is narrower), while the powertrain’s location was been shifted to improve weight distribution. The suspension was tweaked to ensure tire contact on all four wheels and improved steering stability. When operating at lower speeds, the engine response has been updated to improve drivability.

Even with a successful run last year, such changes are made to better maximize the Triton’s performance. Such an approach was also taken for the Pajero. Indeed, Mitsubishi’s promotional material mentions it is “based on the highly robust ladder frame of the Triton pickup truck, with model-specific development of the cabin and front and rear suspension.”

“The AXCR, where vehicles must run at high speed over a diverse and grueling course, the load imposed on the vehicle body by road impact is said to place, in some cases, more than thirty times greater than in normal customer driving,” team director Hiroshi Masuoka stated. “The technical information gained through our participation in the AXCR over the past four years has not only improved the competitiveness of our rally cars, but has also provided valuable insight for strengthening the appeal of our production vehicles.

“These learnings have been applied not only to the Triton, but also to the all-new Pajero, which will make its world premiere this autumn. Through vehicle development honed through rally activities, Mitsubishi Motors will continue to deliver distinctive and compelling products that reflect Mitsubishi Motors’ identity.”

The Pajero, also known as the Montero in other markets like North America, sold over 3.25 million units in its lifetime. Introduced in 1982, the line spanned four generations and is considered Mitsubishi’s most iconic SUV.

Featured image credit: Mitsubishi Motors