Leaked patent drawings suggests Mitsubishi could take on Ranger Raptor
Mitsubishi has seemingly backtracked on previous claims that it will never introduce an off-road focused of the Triton to rival the Ford Ranger Raptor, as indicated by leaked patent images suggesting that such a model might well happen after all.
In an interview with Australia’s motoring.com.au in February this year, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Head of Product Planning, James Tol, said that while an opportunity for a Raptor rival exists, safety and tech has been identified as the core focus points.
“There’s certainly an opportunity there, but I’m not going to speculate as to whether we are or we aren’t. At the moment we’re concentrating on getting the model range we have bedded down and launched. I’d never say never… we will talk about that down the track,” Tol told the online platform at the time.
“The new Triton certainly has a much better visual appeal, and we think that ‘harder edge’ is needed in this market, but it’s got the substance that comes with it. We’re really happy with the technology and safety that’s gone into this – it’s what ought to be in vehicles like this – and we worked really hard to make sure we could get collision mitigation and lane-departure warning actually into the workhorse grades, and we did it”.
In the latest development however, Aussie online site, caradvice.com.au, has obtained patent images perpetually showing that a production version of hardcore Triton Absolute (main image) could indeed become a reality.
Unveiled as a concept at the Bangkok Motor Show in three months ago, the Absolute sported a more aggressive appearance in the form of red accents on the bottom of the front bash plate, LEDs integrated into the roof rails, satin silver accented side steps, a bespoke black paint finish, sports bar, Absolute badges on the rear panels, Falken all-terrain tyres and a 50 mm height increase.
No interior details or indeed mechanical information was divulged, though chances are that the concept’s powertrain remained unchanged from that of the regular Triton.
While Mitsubishi Motors Australia has so far refused to comment on the leaked images and indeed whether they are those of the Absolute, its CEO, John Signoriello, remarked at the unveiling of the concept that, “[The Absolute] demonstrates our commitment to exploring a vision of the future Triton that will deliver on our ‘engineered beyond tough’ commitment to the Triton series”.
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