To feed the increasingly crowded pickup niche, a possible model that did not succeed in the past comes to life with the sketch of this design specialist.
With the pick up onslaught which is happening in most markets in this part of the Continent, no one wants to be left out and manufacturers that already have one or more models available are looking to join a new segment or invent a niche where this concept is valid and, logically, salable.
And the fact is that a pick-up is today an extremely versatile product that can be used as a work tool or as leisure for the family, with great space, luxury equipment for the vast majority, safety identical to a German sedan and powers that disappoint. to any sports car.
It is known that the North American market is a leader in pickups, with the Toyota Hilux/Tacoma (median) and Ford F-150 (full size) the two with the highest registrations in their respective segments. Denying a new model that fully competes is unacceptable, even brands that have never manufactured a pickup truck are now moving towards that goal.
mitsubishi is a renowned Japanese brand, with a reputation for offering robustness and durability in its models, some of which are historic such as the Eclipse coupe or the Lancer sedanand other vehicles that passed without pain or glory like the Ridera pickup of which just over 20,000 units were manufactured.
With a very particular design on its front, very much in the Mitsubishi style, the medium-sized pickup truck had a poor start, so much so that in the third year sales fell abruptly so they decided to reduce production, and then just four years after its presentation it gave it a definitive end.
Following rumors about the three-diamond brand’s return to the North American pickup market, a virtual artist known as jlord8 on social networks he took the initiative and imagined what the reborn Mitsubishi Raider would be like.
The curious thing is that Mitsubishi would not have to start the project from scratch, since it could either adapt the new Rider based on the Triton (L200) or take the platform used by its sister brands Nissan and Renault with the Frontier and Alaskanrespectively.
For followers of the brand, the designer matched the line of this possible pickup with the new SUV series Outlander. Since the first generation was developed on the basis of dodge dakotamight as well make friends with Stellantis (this SUV is sold under the Peugeot and Citroën brands) and use the RAMRampage.
Mitsibishi Rider, the unsuccessful pickup that will seek revenge
The Mitsubishi Raider is a pickup that debuted in 2005 as a 2006 model for the US market and was largely based on the Dodge Dakota of the time. The name is recycled from the Dodge Raider SUV sold from 1987 to 1990, which was a rebadged Mitsubishi Montero.
The Raider filled the void in the Mitsubishi lineup since the discontinued Mighty Max in 1996. Although the Japanese was still building its own Triton (L200) at the time, it would have been subject to the “chicken tax,” while an American-built pickup truck was not.
Chrysler built the Raider along with the Dakota at its Warren, Michigan assembly plant, but they were shipped to Normal, Illinois, for installation of some Mitsubishi-specific parts and for distribution. With different bodies and traction, it was able to offer itself with an engine PowerTech V8 4.7 liters and 230 horsepower, plus a more domestic 3.7-liter V6.
The first sales were disappointing: only a tenth of those of its cousin-sister Dakota. 9,861 Raider were built in 2005 alone, and then production decreased because dealers had stock for a minimum of six months.
