Mitsubishi revises Pajero for 2012

AN UPDATED Pajero arrives in Mitsubishi showrooms from today with a new front bumper and grille, improved safety and a slimmer model range, with petrol models deleted from the model range with the exception of the Exceed 3.8 V6.

The NW Pajero for the 2012 model year replaces the NT-series introduced in December 2009.

The entry-level GL model – primarily sold to mining fleets – receives the frontal refresh only, while GLX, GLS and VRX now come standard with an electro-chromatic mirror and reversing camera.

The Exceed model already has a reversing camera as part of its Mitsubishi Multi Communication System.

The Pajero GL price rises by $130 to $50,590, while the GLX increases $800 to $55,990. The most popular Pajero in the range, the GLS, is up $600 to $60,190 while VRX (which gets a standard diff lock and new 18-inch alloys) is $1400 more at $70,890.

Exceed 3.8 V6 petrol has risen only $100 (to $74,390) while the diesel-powered Exceed 3.2 DI-D – which now gets a rear diff lock and the new alloys as standard – is up by $900 (to $77,690).



According to Mitsubishi’s Product Manager James Toi, the Exceed petrol does not get the rear diff lock as buyers are considered less likely to travel off-road.

Inside, a new cloth material is used for all but the leather-lined Exceed (which simply gains new seat stitching) while the driver’s window gains an auto up/down function and instrument illumination has been changed from blue to red.

Mitsubishi dropped the V6 petrol from GLX and VRX models because it accounted for fewer than five per cent of sales but retained the Exceed petrol as take-up is still around 15 per cent.

Fleet sales of the GL has doubled from an average of about 25 per month in 2010 to around 50 per month currently.

According to VFACTS, Pajero holds an 8.9 per cent share of the medium SUV segment in Australia with 5105 sales to the end of September.

That may be down 2.6 per cent over the same period last year, but is a better result than for key competitors like the Toyota Prado (down 34.3 per cent), Toyota Kluger (down 19.1 per cent) and Holden Captiva 7 (down 15.2 per cent).

MY 2012 Mitsubishi Pajero pricing:
GL 3.2 DI-D	$50,590 (+$130)
GLX 3.2 DI-D	$55,990 (+$800)
GLS 3.2 DI-D	$60,190 (+$600)
VRX 3.2 VRX (a)	$70,890 (+$1400)
Exceed 3.8 petrol (a)	$74,390 (+$100)
Exceed 3.2 Di-D (a)	$77,690 (+$900)