PREPARATIONS are ramping up forward of the launch of the primary mainstream Mitsubishi battery electrical (BEV) mannequin to be bought in Australia, with the marque’s re-established Australian experience and dealing with adjustment crew retuning the Taiwan-built BEV for native tastes.
In tandem with rising demand for its plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), Mitsubishi Motors Australia Restricted (MMAL) must promote its new BEV in adequate numbers to assist offset the CO2 emissions of its higher-carbon autos just like the Triton ute and petrol-powered Outlander medium SUV variants.
With Australia’s New Automobile Emissions Normal (NVES) now in drive, MMAL chief government officer Shaun Westcott informed GoAuto that, like many OEMs, Mitsubishi will “cop vital penalties” as a result of patrons are at present opting primarily for inside combustion (ICE) or hybrids (HEVs) however not BEVs.
To extend the possibility that Australians regard the Mitsubishi BEV as a strong purchase, Mitsubishi Motors Company (MMC) in Tokyo has permitted MMAL to conduct tuning of the Foxconn-sourced automobile in South Australia and on the Lang Lang proving floor in Victoria.
Engineers from Foxconn – which is able to assemble the BEV (carrying Mitsubishi badges and styling) in Taiwan – have already visited Australia and met with Tony Dorrington, MMAL product technique supervisor and head of the native tuning crew.
“We have now been engaged on the Foxconn automobile, the total EV out on the finish of 2026,” MMAL normal supervisor of product technique Bruce Hampel informed GoAuto.
“Tony and the (Foxconn) crew have been driving the aggressive set at Lang Lang and spending all of this week getting a way of Australian highway circumstances in as many locations as potential.”
Mr Dorrington added that his crew will likely be concerned with tuning of the prototype model of the Mitsubishi BEV, with that course of beginning quickly.
The MMAL tuning crew has returned to its outdated Magna/380 tuning roads – a punishing and pockmarked route on the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia.
The BEV in query is prone to be a restyled model of the Foxtron Mannequin B – a barely raised hatchback measuring 4300mm in size (on a 2800mm wheelbase), 1865mm in width, and 1530mm in peak.
Key rivals are anticipated to be the MG 4, BYD Atto 3 and Kia EV3 which, within the first six months of 2025, have accrued 2268, 1854 and 1153 Australian deliveries respectively.
Foxtron is a three way partnership between Foxconn, recognized within the know-how business for its meeting of iPhone elements, and Yulon, a Taiwanese automotive producer. In Could this yr, MMC and Foxtron signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the provision of the BEV mannequin.
The related MOU stipulated that the BEV could be “launched within the Oceania area (Australia and New Zealand) within the second half of 2026. The timing, which affords a 14- to 20-month window for Foxtron to retool its manufacturing line for right-hand drive manufacturing, is tight.
If the Mitsubishi BEV is certainly based mostly on the Foxtron Mannequin B, it’s possible to make use of the 400-volt MIH skateboard platform and supply rear-wheel drive with a 170kW rear motor. A circa-60kWh lithium iron phosphate battery will afford round 450km vary (WLTP) at an environment friendly 13.3kWh/100km.
Behind the scenes, MMC is known to have secured alterations to the entrance and rear styling of the Mannequin B however the core physique in white is anticipated to be shared between the Foxtron and Mitsubishi variations of the five-door hatch.
For the BEV to generate adequate gross sales for MMAL to offer some NVES offset profit, pricing will must be aggressive with the MG 4, which begins at $37,990 drive-away, or $43,000 d/a with a 64kWh battery just like that utilized by the Mitsubishi automobile.
Mr Westcott warned that the BEV wants to clean its face commercially fairly than act merely as an enabler of cross-subsidies.
“We have now a (BEV) product. We are going to carry it to market once we suppose the market is ready to help that product,” Mr Westcott mentioned. “It must be financially viable and possible.”
The Mitsubishi BEV settlement has spurred deepening collaboration between MMC’s Renault-Nissan Alliance father or mother and Foxconn, with the Taiwanese conglomerate understood to be exploring using the previous’s Japanese crops for manufacturing of different BEV fashions.
