Lifestyle-oriented utes have become a category many automakers can no longer ignore. Models like the Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok, and Toyota Hilux all offer modest performance and capability while adding healthy doses of tech and convenience features.
But Mitsubishi has seemed a step or two behind its competitors in recent years, with an all-new version of its Triton ute - set to arrive here within months - coming undeniably late to the party.
But even with the upcoming Triton wearing a fresh "Beast Mode" design and all-new everything, it still lags behind in a few key areas. So Mitsubishi is already planning mid-cycle updates to keep the ute at par with its fiercest rivals.
In a press session with Australian media, Mitsubishi chief product specialist Yoshiki Masuda bared the possbility of the Triton eventually gaining rear disc brakes.
“In order to be compatible with some more ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems) and auto parking [technology], we want to have a rear [disc] brake, and there is always performance [factors] as well," said Masuda.
“Maybe sometime [with a future] upgrade, a minor model change, we would like to consider discs."
Notably, the Ranger and Amarok offer discs brakes in higher variants.
Matsuda also spoke of a fully digital instrument cluster, something the Ranger and Amarok already have over the Triton.
“For now, we have a [7-inch] LCD meter… you know, maybe at some point at an upgrade, we have a full LCD [digital instrument panel],” he added.
While it's unfortunate that the next-generation Triton will arrive without rear discs and a digital driver's display, Mitsubishi is banking on other areas to make up the difference.
The Japanese automaker says the Triton boasts an all-new ladder-frame chassis, suspension, and diesel power plant in addition to the new design. Whether all that will be enough to convince buyers in New Zealand and elsewhere remains a significant question.