The New Mitsubishi Pajero Could Be A Perfect Land Cruiser Rival For America, Except For One Big Problem

It’s safe to say that body-on-frame SUVs are back. Toyota’s brought a Land Cruiser back to America, Ford’s found success with the Bronco, Nissan recently launched a brand-new Armada, and is readying a new third-generation Xterra. One formerly famous SUV player conspicuously absent from the current scene? Mitsubishi.

The Pajero has won the famously inhospitable Dakar Rally 12 times, and even when rebadged as the Montero for the American market, offered proper capability. However, up until this week, there hasn’t been a new Pajero since 2006. The latest fifth-generation model gets a huge glow-up, but there’s at least one snag preventing it from making a swift journey across the ocean.

Unsurprisingly, the new Pajero is still a proper SUV featuring a separate ladder chassis, part-time four-wheel-drive with a two-speed transfer case, and architectural ties with a pickup truck. Under the skin, the new Pajero is related to the sixth-generation Triton on sale in Africa, Asia, Latina America, and Oceania. Despite featuring coil springs at all four corners, it even shares that model’s 113-inch wheelbase and ability to accommodate the 4N16 turbodiesel inline-four.

That’s a good thing, because the 2.4-liter turbodiesel with 201 horsepower and up to 354 lb.-ft. of torque is the only engine offered in the new Mitsubishi Pajero. Hitched to an eight-speed automatic transmission, it’s certainly competitive on paper with the turbodiesel inline-four that the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado offers in other markets, and the lockable center differential really helps narrow the spec-sheet gap. Actually, if you want to know just how close competitive benchmarking is getting, let’s talk key off-road angles. The new Pajero features an approach angle of 30.4 degrees, a breakover angle [that’s the one that prevents you from grounding out] of 22.6 degrees, and a departure angle of 25.8 degrees. The U.S.-spec Land Cruiser? Thirty degrees, 25 degrees, and 22 degrees, respectively. Even the wheelbases of the two rivals are within an inch of each other.

Beyond the Pajero’s rugged credentials, it’s a fairly handsome SUV. Standing 75.2 inches tall with a 193.7-inch-long silhouette, it’s the right mixture of size and squareness. Big but not enormous, blocky but chiseled. There’s plenty of surfacing and trim to break up metal on the flanks and hood, and the grille almost seems refreshingly modest for 2026. The availability of a black roof and pillars chops down the visual height nicely, and those finned lighting elements replicating the grille slats are rather smart.

On the inside, the new Pajero looks reassuringly plush yet usable. Big padded sections adorn the dashboard, door cards, and console, while a solid selection of real buttons and knobs ought to work regardless of what your winter gloves are made of. Ventilated seats, three-zone climate control, and a big camera suite including one underneath the SUV are on offer, and three rows of seats ought to come in handy when two simply isn’t enough. Oh, and if you really want to jam out, a 12-speaker Yamaha audio system sounds rather tantalizing.

By now, it seems that the new Mitsubishi Pajero would be almost perfect for the American market. It’s the right sort of size and shape to hook in families willing to splash the cash on a big SUV, and it would add considerable showroom appeal to Mitsubishi dealers across the continent. There’s one big problem though: Diesel prices are sky-high right now, and Mitsubishi doesn’t have a suitable gasoline counterpart in its parts bin.

The marque’s last two gasoline-powered V6s, the 6G7 and 6B3, are dead. At the moment, Mitsubishi Motors doesn’t make any gasoline engines of its own larger than 2.4 liters and four cylinders, and that’s simply not going to cut it for large SUV use in many American situations. California’s almost dragstrip-style on-ramps that feature traffic lights for metering, Detroit’s fearsomely swift freeway known to locals as The Lodge, Rocky Mountain altitude, that sort of stuff. Before even considering the enormous pain and expense of U.S. homologation, Mitsubishi would likely need to develop a new engine suited to American tastes, or borrow one from a partner and shoehorn it in. Even Nissan’s venerable VQ V6 may require some serious reengineering, a process that could be both expensive and time-consuming. It’s also unlikely that the new Pajero is a veiled look at the next Nissan Xterra, given how a teaser rendering of that model shows a markedly shorter rear overhang.

We’ll likely just have to gaze at the new Pajero as seen here from afar, which is a shame because it’s pretty much exactly the sort of SUV Mitsubishi needs in America right now. Plus, it has a rather amusing name. If you don’t know why, ask a friend who speaks Spanish. However, don’t give up hope just yet. Earlier this year, Automotive News reported that Mitsubishi showed its North American dealers an SUV based on the new Pajero. How much will come to America, and how soon? We’ll have to wait and see.

Top graphic image: Mitsubishi