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Mitsubishi's Ford Everest competitor will be axed in its current form in Australia due to new safety rules, with only run-out stock to remain until a new-generation model arrives.
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The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport four-wheel-drive SUV will be forced to hit the pause button in Australia until the next-generation model arrives due to new safety rules the current iteration does not meet.
Production of the current Pajero Sport has ended for Australia as it will not be compliant with new regulations mandating autonomous emergency braking (AEB) technology in force for all new vehicles of its type from 1 March 2025.
While the Pajero Sport is fitted with car-to-car AEB – intended to slam the brakes when an imminent rear-end collision is detected – the 4WD's system appears to not fit the specifications required by Australian regulators.
A new-generation model – with the DNA of the latest Triton ute – is in development, expected in Australian Mitsubishi showrooms sometime in 2026.
Mitsubishi says it is stockpiling vehicles to help bridge the gap to "future model plans", but it is likely to leave the brand without a large 4WD SUV in production for 12 months or more.
Stock brought to Australia before March can continue to be sold after that date.
The Eclipse Cross and current-generation ASX SUVs will fall victim to the same AEB mandate cutting the Pajero Sport.
While a new ASX has been confirmed – as a lightly restyled Renault Captur – the Triton and Outlander will be left as the only other cars still in production for Mitsubishi showrooms.
"Given the position of ASX, Eclipse Cross and Pajero Sport in their current life cycles, investment towards the re-engineering of these vehicles to incorporate the new ADRs was not commercially feasible," Mitsubishi Australia CEO Shaun Westcott said in a media statement.
"As a result, Australian production of these vehicles has ended. This is not unprecedented; we have seen similar situations before, and our teams are well prepared to manage this transition.
"We have worked closely with our dealer partners to ensure each model line will be ordered in sufficient quantities ahead of time.
"This will support our customers while we continue to confirm our future model plans as a core Mitsubishi market. We will announce these future models in due course."
More than 7300 examples were reported as sold in 2024, up from 5547 in 2023 but down from 8838 in 2022.
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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
