The Mitsubishi Pajero is a legendary name in the fabled three diamonds’ roster but thanks to tougher emission regulations and falling sales in ladder-frame SUVs, the (original) Pajero is dead and gone. Now, the same goes for its factory too which bears the same name.
The Pajero factory when it was still making vehicles
According to the Nikkei, Mitsubishi Motors Company (MMC) had recently sold the Pajero factory in Sagahogi, Gifu Prefecture to Daio Paper, Japan’s leading manufacturer of tissue and toilet paper for around JPY 4 billion (~RM 141 million). This was part of MMC’s restructuring plan which was needed in order to turn the company around.
It might be crappy news for fans of the Pajero which ended production in 2021 but it’s also unfortunately apt since the name is very explicit in Spanish. Which is why it was called the less-offensive Montero in markets that would chortle at the P word.
Note the Outlander being loaded alongside the Pajeros
Besides the legendary Dakar Rally winner, the Pajero plant also assembled the Delica D:5 as well as the previous-generation . When MMC shuttered the plant in 2021, production of the Delica D:5 was transferred to the Okazaki Plant in Aichi Prefecture.
The Pajero plant was important for the economy of Sagahogi, so much so that it was nicknamed Pajerotown. During its peak, the plant had the capacity to produce 170,000 vehicles per year and locals initially hoped that a new automaker would take over the plant so workers would adjust more easily to their new roles.
645,984 Pajeros later and the story is over
The Japanese financial daily also reported that of the roughly 1,000 employees at the plant, about 30 percent will be reassigned within MMC, another 30 percent have taken new jobs with other businesses in the area, and just over 250 have accepted early retirement offers.
No more vehicle assembly, these robots will be replaced by machinery that produces paper-based products
Some of the workers will likely continue working at the Daio plant once it opens but instead of assembling parts on a desert-conquering 4×4, they will be in a factory that makes sanitary paper products that wipe noses during tearjerking moments or after a date with the white porcelain throne.
The Pajero's name lives on in the Pajero Sport but that's the only commonality between the two
It’s quite a downfall for what was once a storied factory that built some of the toughest vehicles on earth and fans of the Pajero are surely downtrodden by the news. Though Mitsubishi isn’t making enthusiast-driven cars, it’s still making money in markets especially around Southeast Asia.
Keyword: Former Mitsubishi Pajero factory down in the dumps – sold to a toilet paper company