Mitsubishi hasn't said a word about it. And yet the industry is already debating the Delica D:6 as if it were sitting in showrooms. The talk is of a PHEV version priced between 5.8 and 7 million yen. But here's the key nuance: Mitsubishi hasn't presented any production model under this name at all, so far. The figures for power, range and price, published by Japanese magazine Response, are a forecast — not a factory spec sheet.
Still, the rumors didn't come from nowhere. Back in 2023, Mitsubishi showed the D concept and explicitly called it a preview of the future Delica family. The concept combined PHEV technology, electric all-wheel drive and the S-AWC system — exactly the solutions now being attributed to the presumed D:6.
According to the Japanese outlet, the current 2.2-liter diesel could give way to a system pairing a 2.4-liter gasoline engine with two electric motors. Around 300 hp of combined output and 80–100 km of electric range are being predicted. But neither these figures nor the departure from diesel have been officially confirmed by Mitsubishi. The price jump, on the other hand, looks set to be substantial — the question isn't whether it happens, but how much it'll sting.
The current Delica D:5 starts in Japan at 4.51 million yen, with the priciest core trim starting at 4.9445 million yen. All current versions come with diesel and all-wheel drive, with rated fuel consumption of 12.9 km/l, or roughly 7.8 l/100 km. Against that backdrop, the predicted 5.8 million yen would mean an increase of at least 1.29 million yen over today's starting price. That's not nothing.
A switch to PHEV could explain part of that gap: the current Outlander PHEV already uses a 2.4-liter engine, two traction motors and a 22.7 kWh battery, delivering up to 106 km of electric range in Japanese spec. That's exactly why the rumor of a similar setup for the Delica sounds technically plausible. But plausible isn't the same as confirmed — those are two different things.
Another Mitsubishi reveal is fueling interest in the D:6 even further. The automaker has already officially announced that the Pajero will return this fall, in 2026, after seven years off the Japanese market. The dilemma Response raises — “Pajero or Delica” — is thus quite real for future buyers — except the Pajero is already confirmed by the manufacturer, while the D:6 for now remains an anticipated continuation of the D:5's nearly twenty-year history.
Tarantas.news previously reported that the Mitsubishi Pajero was the most talked-about automotive news in Response's July ranking. Unlike the rumors surrounding the Celica and GR Camry, its return is already confirmed: the premiere will take place in fall 2026.
