Mitsubishi Motors To End Pajero Sales In Japan

April 25, 2019 | Asia Pacific, World

April 25, 2019 – Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said today it will end sales of Pajero sport utility vehicles in Japan after finishing production in August for the domestic market, where sales have slumped recently.

The Japanese automaker said it started selling the same day 700 units of the Pajero “final edition” in Japan priced at 4.53 million yen ($40,500), while continuing overseas sales in more than 70 countries.

The all-wheel drive vehicle, first released in 1982, contributed to an SUV boom in Japan during the early 1990s, with its global popularity boosted by 12 Dakar Rally victories.

As of March, Mitsubishi Motors had sold more than 640,000 units of the Pajero in Japan, it said.

But recent domestic sales of the car fell short of 1,000 units per year due partly to stricter emissions regulations in the country and it was superseded by the automaker’s other fuel-efficient SUVs such as the Outlander and Eclipse Cross.

Mitsubishi Motors joined the alliance of Nissan Motor Co. and French automaker Renault SA after Nissan acquired a 34 percent stake in the Pajero producer in October 2016.

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