The date fans have waited five years for has finally been said out loud. The world premiere of the reborn Mitsubishi Pajero could take place on September 2, 2026 — Japanese magazine Best Car got the date straight from dealers. Mitsubishi itself is still being careful and talks only about “autumn”. Order books open later, so the September reveal will not be the start of sales.
The status of the car, though, is beyond doubt. The Pajero name has been officially confirmed, and the model returns to the global market after five years: overseas production stopped in 2021, while the Japanese-market version left the line back in 2019 — at home the gap stretched to seven years. And here is the key part: the new Pajero will not be a city crossover wearing a legendary badge.
Underneath sits the ladder frame of the current Triton pickup. But the passenger body and both the front and rear suspensions are being developed specifically for the SUV, and the flagship will be built at the MMTh plant in Thailand. The promise sounds ambitious — serious off-road ability with no penalty in on-road comfort. The cabin also brings back the signature off-road instrument block, an homage to the three-dial stack of the early generations.
The digital Multi Meter will show altitude, heading, temperature, pitch and roll angles, and even how torque is split between the left and right sides. All of it in real time, so that on rocks, in mud and on a steep climb the driver knows exactly what the car is doing. Engines, gearboxes, trim levels, prices? Still no official word. A Triton diesel, a low range and a hybrid version remain forecasts.
The market list is not confirmed either. Mitsubishi calls the Pajero a global model and has brought back its second historic name, Montero, for selected countries — the badge the SUV once wore in North and South America, Spain and the Philippines. Start-of-sales dates for individual markets, however, have not been published.
The nameplate has ironclad arguments behind it: more than 3.25 million Pajeros sold across over 170 countries and regions in four generations, plus 12 overall Dakar wins, seven of them back to back. The main question will only open up at the premiere — how deeply has Mitsubishi reworked that truck platform for its new flagship?
