The Pajero Is Back: All-New Flagship 4WD Revealed, and Australia Is on the List

Image credit: Mitsubishi Motors

Twenty years after the last all-new one, the Mitsubishi Pajero is officially back. Mitsubishi pulled the covers off the fifth-generation model in Tokyo overnight and, importantly for us, named Australia in the first group of launch markets: Thailand gets it first, then Japan and Australia inside Mitsubishi's fiscal 2026, which runs to the end of March 2027.

This is not a badge revival on a soft-roader. It is a body-on-frame, seven-seat cross-country 4WD, built in Thailand, positioned above Pajero Sport as the brand's flagship. Mitsubishi built 3.29 million Pajeros across four generations from 1982 and sold them in more than 170 countries, and the new one leans hard on that history while chasing the modern Prado and Everest buyer.

The hardware: ladder frame, Super Select, and a new diesel

Under the skin is a high-tensile-steel ladder frame with a larger cross-section than before, double-wishbone front suspension and a newly developed five-link rigid rear axle. The engine is a purpose-developed 2.4-litre turbo-diesel with a single wide-range variable-geometry turbo making 480Nm, through a new 8-speed automatic. Mitsubishi has not published a kW figure yet, which is worth remembering when you see numbers floating around.

The 4WD system is the one Pajero people will want: Super Select 4WD-II with 2H, full-time 4H, 4HLc locked centre diff, and 4LLc low range. Over the top sits S-AWC integrated control with Active Yaw Control working the front brakes, plus seven drive modes covering Normal, Eco, Gravel, Snow, Mud, Sand and Rock. Claimed numbers: 230mm ground clearance, 30.4-degree approach, 22.6-degree rampover, 25.8-degree departure, and a 52:48 weight balance. Mitsubishi notes some of those figures vary by specification, so treat them as the headline set until Australian specs land.

Image credit: Mitsubishi Motors

The cabin: seven seats and two 14.3-inch screens

The three-row, seven-seat cabin runs a horizontal dash that nods to the 1982 original, with two 14.3-inch displays in one housing. The old triple-gauge cluster comes back as a digital Multi-Meter reading altitude, compass heading, temperature, and the vehicle's pitch and roll angles. The second row slides 150mm and tumbles forward, the third row is claimed to fit adults with toes tucked under the second row, and three-zone climate plus ventilated seats keep the whole cabin usable. Acoustic glass on the windscreen and all four door windows chases LandCruiser-grade quietness.

Image credit: Mitsubishi Motors

Safety kit, no rating yet

Eight airbags including Mitsubishi's first front-centre airbag, forward collision mitigation with pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist detection plus junction assist, a new Emergency Lane Assist, front cross-traffic alert, and MI-PILOT single-lane highway assist pairing adaptive cruise with lane centring. A 3D surround camera adds a front under-floor view that switches on automatically in 4HLc and 4LLc, which is genuinely useful on rock. There is no ANCAP data yet; the car has only just been revealed.

Image credit: Mitsubishi Motors

What it means for Australia

At 4,920mm long, 1,925mm wide and 1,910mm tall on a 2,870mm wheelbase, the new Pajero parks almost exactly on top of the Toyota Prado and Ford Everest. That is the fight Mitsubishi has picked, and pricing will decide it. Nothing has been announced for Australia yet, and we will not guess. The moment a price list exists, it will be in the database and on this page's follow-up.

We have put the full on-paper comparison against the Prado, Everest and MU-X in a separate piece, using the specs Mitsubishi has actually published, and you can track the car itself on its CarSorted page, which we will keep updated from announcement to showroom.