AN ABORTED co-development deal with Japanese compatriot, and now major shareholder, Nissan – which went on to cosy up with sexier Euros Renault and Mercedes – forced Mitsubishi to overhaul its decade-old but still-popular ML/MN Triton ute all alone, abandoning the ground-up redesign originally planned.

The budget seemingly ran dry when it came to front-end styling, resulting in a look akin to the metal-filled mouth of a teenager with misaligned teeth. Or perhaps with this MQ Triton, Mitsubishi was trying to recapture some of the mostly positive controversy caused by the unprecedentedly curvaceous 2006 ML.

Regardless, nobody has to look at their vehicle while they are driving it – and our week with a top-spec Triton Exceed left us pleasantly surprised at how well this vehicle hangs together as a package in the fiercely competitive dual-cab ute market.

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