Mitsubishi pulls a legend from the past: Montero/Pajero returns as a body-on-frame flagship

© A. Krivonosov

Mitsubishi showed American dealers the upcoming Montero at a closed-door event near Chicago. The meeting took place on June 5 in Itasca, Illinois, with around 180 US and Canadian dealers invited as part of the company’s Momentum 2030 strategy presentation. For the brand, this is more than just another SUV: it’s the return of a nameplate that disappeared from the US after the 2006 model year and was sold elsewhere as the Pajero.

Mitsubishi has already officially confirmed the new Pajero: the world premiere is scheduled for autumn 2026. The off-roader will be built on a reinforced ladder-frame architecture derived from the Triton pickup, but with model-specific development of the body, cabin, front and rear suspension. That’s an important detail: the new Pajero/Montero will not be a rebadged Nissan Armada, as some early rumors claimed, and it won’t be a large crossover either.

According to Automotive News, dealers were shown a vehicle with a boxy off-road design, three rows of seats and roughly 12 inches of ground clearance — about 305 mm. Up front sits a light bar flanked by vertically stacked headlights; at the rear are T-shaped taillamps and a conventional liftgate: for the first time in four generations, the Pajero drops the side-hinged rear door and externally mounted spare wheel. If these specs make it to production, the Montero will play in the same territory as the Toyota Land Cruiser, Lexus GX, Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco. But in the US the question is still open: the model may arrive closer to 2030, if the North American project gets the final green light.

The logic behind the comeback is clear. Mitsubishi’s US lineup currently rests on a narrow range, with the Outlander carrying nearly all of the brand’s reputation. A body-on-frame Montero could give the marque character again: not just «an affordable crossover», but an off-roader with a Dakar pedigree and a clear competitive identity.

For now the takeaway is simple: Mitsubishi really is bringing the Pajero back, but the American Montero is still suspended between dealer enthusiasm and a confirmed production plan.