Mitsubishi returns to the US pickup market with Nissan’s help

Mitsubishi needs a new heavy weapon in America

Mitsubishi and Nissan are preparing a pickup aimed at the North American market. According to Reuters, Mitsubishi confirmed the joint project with Nissan in its new medium and long term plan, linking it to a wider growth strategy.

Mitsubishi’s US line up badly needs this move. The brand currently sells mainly SUVs and the Outlander PHEV in America, but it has no model in a class where buyers pay generously for equipment, towing ability and off road credibility. The new pickup would fill the gap Mitsubishi left after the Raider disappeared in 2009. According to Car and Driver, Mitsubishi has not sold a pickup in the US since then.

Nissan’s frame gives the project economic sense

The most logical technical base comes from the next Nissan Frontier. Car and Driver writes that the new Mitsubishi pickup is expected to use Nissan’s new ladder frame platform, which Nissan is preparing for around 2028. The same architecture should also underpin the new Frontier, Xterra and an Infiniti model.

That solves two problems for Mitsubishi at once. First, the company has no car factory of its own in the US, which means a pickup imported from Japan or Thailand would become too expensive because of tariffs. Second, Nissan’s platform cuts development costs, because Mitsubishi does not need to build a separate American pickup from scratch. Road & Track links production to Nissan’s North American factory network, especially the Canton plant in Mississippi, where Nissan already focuses on body on frame models.

This is not simply an L200 with US plates

The future US model should not be confused with the current Mitsubishi L200, also known as the Triton. The Triton is a global workhorse that Mitsubishi sells in many markets outside the United States. According to Australian figures, its 2.4 litre bi turbo diesel produces 150 kW and 470 Nm, tows up to 3500 kg and can carry a 1200 x 800 mm euro pallet in the load bed.

That would not be enough as a straight transfer into the US market. American buyers expect a petrol engine, an automatic gearbox, strong towing capacity and a convincing off road version. If Mitsubishi gets Nissan’s new platform, the project moves closer to the Frontier’s technical family rather than becoming a simple rebadging of the current Thailand built Triton.

The rivals are technically strong

There is no longer room for a half finished product in America’s mid size pickup class. The Ford Ranger’s 2.3 litre EcoBoost produces 201 kW and 420 Nm, the Chevrolet Colorado’s 2.7 litre TurboMax delivers 231 kW and 583 Nm and the Toyota Tacoma i FORCE MAX hybrid produces up to 243 kW and 630 Nm.

The Triton’s 150 kW and 470 Nm would be perfectly respectable in a work truck, but in the US it would look modest beside the Ranger and Colorado. That means Mitsubishi’s new pickup needs either Nissan petrol engines, a hybrid system or some form of electrified drivetrain. Mitsubishi North America’s Momentum 2030 plan confirms that the brand wants to use combustion engines, hybrids, plug in hybrids and electric cars, rather than locking itself into one technology.

For Europe, the L200 matters more than the US pickup

This model is unlikely to have a direct impact on Europe. The European pickup segment is far narrower, tax rules make CO2 figures more important and several manufacturers have either retreated from the class or sell here in much smaller numbers. For Mitsubishi in Europe and nearby markets, the main role still belongs to the L200 and Triton, not to a Nissan platform model created for the US.

Even so, the project reveals the new reality of the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi alliance. Previously, Mitsubishi supplied Triton technology for the new Nissan Navara in several global markets. Now the help moves in the other direction, with Nissan assisting Mitsubishi’s return to the US pickup class. This is pragmatic exchange, not romantic model heritage.

Mitsubishi is playing for survival, not nostalgia

Mitsubishi’s new long term plan promises 13 new models over six years, growth investment of about 1 trillion yen (€5.4 billion) and operating profit of 160 billion yen (€862 million) in the 2029 financial year. The calculation is based on the European Central Bank rate of 3 June 2026, when one euro equalled 185.66 yen.

The new US pickup fits that plan exactly. Mitsubishi does not need a niche model for brand loyalists in America. It needs a high margin product that lifts volume and gives dealers a fresh sales argument. If Nissan provides a strong frame, local production and the right choice of powertrains, Mitsubishi could return to a class where the brand still has historical credibility, but which it left empty for far too long.

Technical brief

Mitsubishi and Nissan are preparing a new mid size pickup truck for North America.

The likely technical base is Nissan’s next generation ladder frame platform, linked to the 2028 Frontier.

The current Mitsubishi Triton produces 150 kW and 470 Nm and can tow up to 3500 kg.

US rivals operate at a higher level: the Ford Ranger offers 201 kW and 420 Nm, the Chevrolet Colorado 231 kW and 583 Nm and the Toyota Tacoma hybrid up to 243 kW and 630 Nm.

From a European perspective, the L200 and Triton remain more important, because the new model is aimed mainly at the US market.