Regional buyers key to most expensive Triton’s success
The most expensive new Mitsubishi Triton ever offered in Australia is forecast to be a sell-out by its creator, Walkinshaw Automotive, thanks to strong regional demand.
Around 400 examples of the $71,990 (plus on-road costs) Mitsubishi Triton Xtreme have been reserved by the Australian Mitsubishi dealer network and production will be capped at 500.
“We are just waiting for notification from Mitsubishi on the last 100 cars and when they are arriving and we will put those out to the dealers for release,” confirmed Walkinshaw chief engineer Trevor Barallon.
On sale now ahead of first customer deliveries in August, the Xtreme is a Triton GSR with a set of Supashock dampers, custom-designed 18-inch alloy wheels with BFGoodrich KO2 tyres, a front bash plate with integrated light bar and some exterior design additions including a sports bar and decal kit.
GSRs are turned into Xtremes at the Walkinshaw Park assembly facility in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton, where its previous dual-cab 4×4 ute projects – the HSV Colorado SportsCat and Volkswagen Amarok W-Series – were also developed and manufactured.
Due to budgetary and timing limitations there are no modifications to the Triton’s 133kW/430Nm 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel – but it may not need then anyway. The interior is also unchanged apart from a build plate.
The intentions of Walkinshaw’s modifications are better ride and handling both off-road and on, and a more overt stance on the road.
Walkinshaw identified the Xtreme as a potential opportunity about 18 months ago to fill a price and positioning gap above the Triton GSR.
“There are lots of people buying Tritons at the moment who are spending a lot more than is being asked for the product,” said Barallon.
The Triton GSR is priced from $56,940 plus on-road costs, while an options pack with a tonneau cover bumps that to $63,890 plus ORCs.
“We have opted for the GSR without the roll cover and that’s enabled us to add some more content in there and get the price as sharp as we can,” explained Barallon.
“And we did that in consultation with the dealers so the Mitsubishi dealers got engaged with the process.”
While Mitsubishi Australia is understood to have expressed some early interest in the project’s formative stages, its only involvement has been to connect Walkinshaw with its network of around 200 dealers.
“We had large team meetings [with dealers] that started about 18 months ago showing the initial concept, content and where we were targeting pricing,” confirmed Barallon.
“And we were consistent with that, we brought them on the journey with us, otherwise we wouldn’t have got to this phase.”
It’s the dealer network that’s providing the feedback that indicates the Xtreme will go over particularly well in regional areas, Barallon said.
“It’s a bit of a mix and every region is different. The guys in WA are very bullish, being that they know people are coming and speccing up Tritons well beyond that pricepoint.
“And it’s a little bit of a different feeling in the metro areas as it is a lot more competitive and a lot more different product out there.
“So regionally we see this product being really well suited to the dealers and that’s the feedback we have been getting from them. They already have the customers at this pricepoint.”
Barallon also said the new-generation Triton set to arrive in 2024 had not dampened interest in the Xtreme.
“We think there is a bit of space there between the current one and the end of life for that program to give us a bit of buzz to talk about,” he said.
Keyword: Mitsubishi Triton Xtreme a sell-out