Mitsubishi could partner with Australian engineering firm Premcar for the model. A rugged version of the Outlander could take inspiration from the new Triton Raider. It’s possible that Mitsubishi could choose to develop the Outlander off-roader in-house. Mitsubishi might be ready to take the Outlander off-road. The mid-size SUV could underpin a more rugged, trail-focused variant in the mold of the recently revealed Triton Raider pickup truck. Don’t get your hopes up stateside, though, as such a model would almost certainly skip the United States and could end up as an Australia-only proposition. While we think there are better options out there, the Outlander is the second-most popular mid-size SUV in Australia, only trailing the new Toyota RAV4. In recent years, there’s been growing interest in trail-rated versions of the SUVs in many important markets around the world, and offering a special package for the Outlander could help to bolster its popularity. Read: Mitsubishi’s New Triton Raider Got Everything Except The One Thing It Needed The new Mitsubishi Triton Raider, introduced last month, has been unveiled as an Aussie rival to models like the Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior and Toyota Hilux Rugged X. It was built in partnership with local engineering firm Premcar, and Mitsubishi could again work with the firm to tweak the Outlander. “We make sure we get it right with this car [Triton Raider],” Mitsubishi product strategy general manager Bruce Hampel told Car Sales. “And again, a lot of efforts happened, both from outside and from Premcar, to make sure that these will be quality products from when you hit the road.” What Can We Expect? Mitsubishi Triton Raider “Based on that success, that Raider nameplate could be utilized on other vehicle lines,” he added. “There’s some space there. Outlander could well be well-positioned to be – was it, Raiderised? I think I used that in the last meeting.” Interestingly, Hampel stopped short of confirming Mitsubishi would work with Premcar on such a model, and instead, may be able to develop a rugged Outlander in-house. Either way, such a model could be expected to hit the market with beefed-up bumpers, flared wheel arches, chunky off-road tires, and upgraded suspension components. It could also take some lessons learned from the impending all-new Pajero and apply them to the Outlander.
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