Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) has confirmed that an announcement on the replacement of one of its most popular models – the venerable ASX – is likely now only weeks away.
Furthermore, it might involve a two-pronged strategy, requiring the staggered launch of a pair of unrelated small SUVs.
And there’s more, since both contenders are currently available elsewhere in the world, but previously dismissed by the company as unavailable and unsuitable respectively for Australia.
CarsGuide understands some sort of variation of the existing Renault Captur is the surprise frontrunner for the short term from sometime next year (even though it is currently left-hand-drive-only), while a heavily reworked version of the recently-announced Mitsubishi Xforce from Indonesia could shape up as the longer-term solution post-2025.
“We have two bookends (for the ASX replacement),” MMAL President and CEO, Shaun Westcott revealed at the pre-launch off-road drive of the new-generation Tritonute recently.
“We have the Renault Captur, which is a rebadged vehicle being sold in Europe, and on the scale of the spectrum we have the Xforce.”
The surprise is that the Captur is even in the running, given its likely expensive European sourcing and high specification. Ateco Automotive has been importing the Captur in Australia since 2021, and currently lists it from $33,000 to $41,300 (before on-road costs).
The replacement of one of its most popular models – the venerable ASX – is likely now only weeks away.
However, the latter is the reason why a rebadged Renault is in consideration for Australia, since its advanced safety already helps meet the stringent 2023 ANCAP crash-test requirements, according to Westcott.
In contrast, the Xforce currently lacks the necessary driver-assist tech - including AEB - to achieve the desired safety rating, as it is based on the near-two-decades-old GS platform that ironically underpins the ASX.
That wasn’t always the case, as it appears Mitsubishi started research and development (R&D) on the Xforce as the global ASX (and likely the Eclipse Cross) replacement late last decade.
But myriad internal issues including a lack of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with more-stringent crash-test standards, meant the project became a lower-cost small-SUV for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region that includes Indonesia (where the Xforce is built), Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.
A heavily reworked version of the recently-announced Mitsubishi Xforce from Indonesia could shape up as the longer-term solution post-2025.
“The challenge we have right now is that the Xforce was designed leading into COVID-19,” Westcott said. “And to save costs, we slowed down… as most of the world went into lockdown … we reduced our R&D investment during that time.
“By the time that we reaccelerated that – and we’re full on at the moment – ANCAP requirements had changed in the meantime, and we now have the 2023 ANCAP requirement. And that vehicle as it was designed no longer meets ANCAP requirements, and we are unlikely to bring it to Australia unless it is significantly modified.
“Now that’s one bookend. The other is the Renault Captur OEM, and where we are going to land is somewhere between those two and I can’t tell you what that is just yet.”
Westcott added that even within the frontrunners, there are choices and decisions surrounding how much change would be required to make either vehicle suitable for Australian consumers.
Re-engineering the Xforce as a five-star ANCAP vehicle may take years (and a massive amount of further investment).
In the Captur’s case, it could mean simply either taking the recently launched European-market version announced last year wearing only ASX badging as the main differentiator, or waiting for the facelifted version due soon that could boast far-greater visual changes to make it look more like a Mitsubishi. The Xforce, on the other hand, would need expensive re-engineering.
“There’s a Renault as it stands, and there’s an opportunity to perhaps investigate… or look at other options around – and I’m going to quote our global CEO (Takao Kato) – ‘to create more Mitsubishi-ness with that vehicle’.
“Or an option is to invest very significantly in the Xforce and redesign that vehicle, which is one of the options that our global CEO has (publicly) put on the table.”
CarsGuide understands that as time is of the essence here, the Captur would shape up as the more logical solution, given that re-engineering the Xforce as a five-star ANCAP vehicle may take years (and a massive amount of further investment).
Ateco Automotive has been importing the Captur in Australia since 2021.
“Where we’re at the moment is that ASX is getting a little bit older now, and I believe we need a short-term fix,” he admitted. “And whether that Xforce can be converted soon enough to meet that need, or whether there’s a bridging strategy that looks at (either) a rebadged or more Mitsubishi-nised Captur (is the question).
“There’s a spectrum of options within that, and at the moment, we’re looking at it being down to how quickly it can be done – so it’s not only money, it’s not only cost… it’s also engineering capability, R&D capability, looking at the existing platform and the ANCAP requirement and seeing what that gap is, and understanding not only how much it is going to cost to do that but how long it is going to take to do that.”
Whichever decision Mitsubishi headquarters in Japan greenlights for Australia, Westcott is keen for a resolution.
“I’m asking, I’m challenging, and I’m pushing very hard for a solution that meets the product lifecycle of the current ASX,” he said.
“We’re aiming to announce that decision by the end of this year. There’s work underway. I can’t tell you what that is, but it’s underway.”
The Captur currently lists from $33,000 to $41,300 (before on-road costs).
Westcott reiterated the importance of replacing the ASX in Australia, considering its status as one of this country’s most popular small SUVs over the past decade – despite being unveiled all the way back in late-2009 and launched here halfway through the following year. It remains a top-six seller in a segment with 22 contenders, even outpacing the Eclipse Cross (8552 versus 7184 units year-to-date).
“Australia is a core market for Mitsubishi Motor Corporation – MMC," he said. "And we will get the products for this market when we need them and (MMC) is firmly behind Mitsubishi in Australia."
Smaller than the existing ASX, which started out as a derivative of the last (CJ) Lancer launched in 2007, the Renault Clio supermini-based Captur is available in three- and four-cylinder turbopetrol, four-cylinder turbo diesel, petrol hybrid and petrol plug-in-hybrid powertrain options in Europe, giving Mitsubishi plenty of choice.
It is related to another Alliance partner model, the Nissan Juke, as well as the French brand’s Arkanacoupe SUV that has been sold in Australia since 2022 and imported from South Korea.
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