Mitsubishi has re-committed to a second coming of its Ralliart performance sub-brand, saying it will be core to the Mitsubishi brand identity in the near future.
While Mitsubishi knows it has been out of the performance arena for some time when it comes to its road-going vehicles, its recent commitment to ‘Mitsubishi Motors-ness’ as part of its 2025 mid-term plan has opened the door for more unique products, and as Mitsubishi’s Executive Officer of Global Marketing and Sales, John Signoriello, puts it: Mitsubishi being a “pioneer again”.
“We want to elevate the brand – We’ve got all these new products coming through and we’re talking about Ralliart as well – how do you take that history and make a future with it? Put these together and you create a brand – instead of a focus on price, we’ll have a focus on brand value. This is an opportunity to move the brand forward, and we can do that with Ralliart,” Signoriello told Australian media in Japan.
The talk surrounding the dormant Ralliart name has intensified in recent months, ever since the brand started showing concept cars (both an Outlander and Triton) in Ralliart-branded camouflage, but the re-introduction of the nameplate has already happened quietly in Japan with some models in Mitsubishi’s home market already available with aesthetic Ralliart packs.
But if you’re worried about Ralliart-branded export models being mere sticker packs, we’ve got good news. Signoriello says future Ralliart variants that will land in Australia will do the name justice.
“Performance is powertrain, but it’s other things as well. There’s no doubt that we have to do it properly. It’s a proud name, it’s a strong name, but we have to do it justice.”
To prove his point, Signoriello says Mitsubishi is taking the sub-brand’s resurgence so seriously that it has established a Ralliart “business promotion office” as a division that will focus solely on the business case of proper performance variants of each of Mitsubishi’s models.
Not only that, but Mitsubishi’s re-entrance into competitive motorsport categories (like, for example, with its Triton AXCR) are no coincidence or simply a branding exercise, but are contributing to the development of performance variants in the future.
“We have been participating in the [AXCR] competition, not just for brand, but also getting information for development” said Koichi Namiki, Executive Officer of Product Strategy, “I do believe we have got a lot of information on how the vehicle will behave in severe conditions.”
Interestingly, the Triton AXCR uses a largely stock Triton drivetrain, with the most significant changes being significantly raised and much more capable (some might say Raptor-style) suspension, and flow de-restricted both on the engines intake and exhaust, which adds another dimension to Signoriello’s comments about drivetrain only being “one part” of the performance equation.
The shift toward development, not just of its re-born Ralliart marque, but also of its mid-term plan to launch 16 new models globally, is a watershed moment for Mitsubishi, which has seemingly been in the woods for some time, likely due to its ‘junior’ partner role in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
Now though, it seems the brand has the opportunity to invest in its line-up again, as Namiki says: “It’s a change of business from price oriented, to value oriented […] We weren’t focusing on brand, we were focusing on profitability.”
Namiki re-iterated the regional division which defined Mitsubishi’s future strategy: Growth in South East Asia and Oceania which includes Australia and New Zealand, leverage opportunity areas like Latin America, where the Alliance recently announced it would launch not one but two new utes, and focus on more advanced technology, like software-defined vehicles and fully electric cars for markets like Japan, North America, and China.
“Our regular discussions [around Ralliart] they are about how we elevate the brand.” he said. “Mitsubishi’s capability has always been out there, we just haven’t been putting it to the fore. We’ve re-focused our resources which has allowed us to think about business in a different way which says we should promote what we are good at, hence re-visiting Ralliart.”
“We’ve got something other brands dont have, and we’ve got to utilize it. You’ll see it when we come out. We’ll be pioneers again.”
Meanwhile back home, Mitsubishi’s Australian boss, Shaun Westcott, speaking about overseas-market Ralliart aesthetic packs, told CarsGuide back in mid-2022 “You’ll notice we haven’t launched them in Australia yet because we believe Ralliart is much more than a sticker pack. We’re waiting for some more fundamental changes.”
Don’t expect to see Ralliart versions of every nameplate soon though, as the sub-brand was still very much in the research and planning phase, according to Signoriello and Namiki. For now we just have the Outlander Vision Ralliart concept from the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon, and perhaps to a degree the Triton AXCR rally truck for a hint at what the future has to offer.
Keyword: Ralliart rebirth - and not just sticker packs! Mitsubishi will re-enter the performance arena with dedicated sub-brand, but will Triton, Outlander or Pajero Sport get a sporty makeover?