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After the better part of two decades, an all-new Mitsubishi ASX developed in-house finally looks to be coming, adding hybrid tech to rival Toyota.
An all-new Mitsubishi ASX small SUV – developed in-house by the Japanese giant, not a rebadged Renault Captur – finally appears to be on the way for the 18th birthday of the original.
It is reportedly set to offer hybrid power on its 2028 arrival – alongside what may be a next-generation Outlander family SUV – to help Mitsubishi compete with a wave of electrified rivals from Hyundai, Toyota, Chery, and more.
News agency Nikkei Asia has claimed Mitsubishi "plans to begin producing and selling hybrid vehicles in Japan" with two vehicles "developed based on the Outlander SUV and the RVR [ASX] compact SUV".
While Australia switched to a new Mitsubishi ASX last year, it is a rebranded version of the Renault Captur, built in Spain and most popular in Europe.
Japanese customers have, until recently, received the original Mitsubishi ASX, produced in Japan since its launch 16 years ago – more than twice the typical lifespan of a new car – on underpinnings that date back to 2006.
A hybrid version of the Renault-based ASX is already sold in Europe alongside a plug-in hybrid, both using the French brand's technology.
However, the cost and complexity of introducing the European ASX, itself based on the seven-year-old Captur, to a Mitsubishi factory in Japan means it is highly unlikely to be the Japanese ASX hybrid reported by Nikkei Asia.
Given the age of the original ASX, the most plausible option is that there is an all-new, Mitsubishi-developed model in the works.
Mitsubishi is yet to confirm plans for a next-generation, in-house-designed ASX, but Australia is likely to be near the front of the queue, given the popularity of the original with local customers.
In contrast, the Renault-based model has seen ASX sales in 2026 drop by 88.6 per cent compared with 2025, amid a $13,000 increase in the price of the cheapest model.
The Nikkei Asia report claims the Outlander will also receive hybrid technology – following exclusive reporting by Drive last year – complementing the current model's choice of pure petrol and plug-in hybrid power.
With today's Outlander now in showrooms for five years – and past the middle of its life, having been updated last year – the 2028 date for hybrid tech suggests it too is for a new generation of the popular SUV.
A report from Automotive News last year claimed the next Outlander is due in 2027 on underpinnings developed by Mitsubishi, rather than the Nissan-sourced platform of today's model.
If accurate, the platform may be shared between the Outlander and ASX to reduce development costs and simplify the production process.
In developing markets such as South-East Asia, Mitsubishi sells the XForce, a small SUV sized similarly to the original ASX, and already available with traditional hybrid power developed from the plug-in hybrid system in the current Outlander.
It would be a logical ASX successor for local showrooms, but it is based on an older and less expensive platform that has not been developed to meet tough Australian safety regulations.
Mitsubishi global vice president of product development, Hiroshi Nagaoka, told media in 2023 that the next generation of the brand's models – now seemingly set to include the 2028 ASX and Outlander – could be engineered for all global markets.
"Some of the equipment [in the XForce] – electrical equipment, [electrical] architecture and so on – it's not enough to comply with Australian regulations.
"If we want to comply with Australian regulations or other countries like the United States or Europe, we need to significantly modify those components or even the architecture itself.
"That's why it's a little bit difficult … to adopt the Australian regulations. But we are considering this, at least for the next generation, how to merge all of the world configurations into the one package.
"And then if we can utilise [that] kind of consolidation, we can deliver anywhere in the world … But we need to wait a little bit for that."
The ASX and Outlander hybrids are likely to draw on the brand's experience in plug-in hybrid technology, recently updated and rated to deliver a 100km electric-only driving range in the latest update to the Outlander.
It has previously sold 'plug-less' hybrid version of its pint-sized 'kei' cars in Japan, but the new ASX and Outlander would represent its first full-sized hybrid cars manufactured in its Japanese factories.
The Japanese car giant aims for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars to account for 50 per cent of its global sales by 2030.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
