JAKARTA: Mitsubishi Motors has announced that it will begin production of an unnamed, brand-new small MPV at its new plant in Bekasi, Indonesia, which will start operations in April 2017.
The new 160,000 units per year plant will begin production with the all-new Pajero Sport SUV (based on the all-new Triton pick-up truck), followed by a brand-new small MPV and the Colt L300 light commercial van/pick-up truck.
Currently, the Pajero Sport is imported from Thailand while the Colt L300 is produced under contract by Isuzu’s Indonesian plant.
Little is known about the brand-new small MPV, but considering the size of the Toyota Avanza-class vehicles segment in Indonesia, this upcoming Mitsubishi MPV should be something similar to the Avanza.
Mitsubishi Motors did not confirm if the new MPV will be coming to Malaysia, but said “Some parts of these vehicles built there will be exported to other ASEAN countries as the next major ASEAN production hub after the Laem Chabang Plant in Thailand.”
Apart from the Grandis, Mitsubishi Motors MPVs are quite alien to most of us in Malaysia but the company used to sell a Toyota Innova-like model called the Kuda (also sold as the Adventure in the Philippines) in Indonesia, but this model has been discontinued for nearly 10 years. However the new MPV is not likely to be a successor to the Kuda/Adventure as Mitsubishi has described it as a ‘Small MPV.’
No images or sketches were provided by perhaps it might be something slightly bigger and higher (a critical requirement in flash flood prone Jakarta) than the Japanese market Mitsubishi Minicab (main picture), maybe minus the costly sliding doors too.
