Will Mitsubishi Motors unify name of Pajero Sport, Montero Sport?

We all know that the Strada name is no more in the Philippines. This comes after Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp (MMPC) launched the all-new pickup truck and decided to use its global name, Triton.

With that, only the past generations of the Mitsubishi pickup truck will bear the Strada nomenclature. But with Mitsubishi's pickup truck now carrying the global name in the Philippines, we're wondering if that will be the same case that will happen with the Montero Sport.

In other countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and parts of Europe, the vehicle is called the Pajero Sport. In other markets like North America, South America, Spain, and the Philippines, it's called the Montero Sport. There's actually a pretty good reason why it gets a different name in other parts of the world, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries. That's because the word 'Pajero' has a rather “special” meaning in the Spanish language.

Back to the possibility that Mitsubishi could unify the SUV's name in the future. According to the executives we spoke to after they shared that the XForce is arriving in the Philippines this year, it will still depend on the market in which the SUV is being offered. They added that historically Spanish countries (as well as Spanish-speaking countries), would prefer using the Montero Sport name.

In the Philippines, however, we're rather unique because we both use the Montero Sport name to describe the pick-up platform vehicle and the Pajero to call the full-size SUV. In other markets, the Pajero is simply called the Montero or the Shogun (in the UK).

As to when the next-generation Montero Sport/Pajero Sport will arrive in the Philippines, Mitsubishi has no exact date or timeline about it yet. Heck, they have yet to hold its official launch. However, it looks like they might hold its grand reveal sometime next year as there are plans to launch a next-generation midsize SUV in 2025. Hopefully, they will reveal a concept version later this year much like when Mitsubishi revealed the XFC and XRT concepts before debuting the XForce and all-new Triton, respectively.