Outlander and Montero re-launch this year

After discontinuing most of its lineup in India including the EVO X, Cedia and Outlander in late 2013, Mitsubishi Motors has been surviving solely on the Pajero Sport that competes in the premium SUV space. Nonetheless, joining the Pajero Sport now will be two new flagship SUVs namely the Montero and Outlander that will be launched later this year.

The company is expected to locally assemble the new generation Outlander while the Montero could be a CBU, much like the previous generation models. Mitsubishi had confirmed the development last year at the launch of the Pajero Sport 4×2 Automatic variant as part of the five models planned for launch during the 2014-16 fiscal.

Reports suggest that the automaker will be launching only the petrol versions of the Montero and Outlander this year that will be offered in both manual and automatic transmission options. The diesel-powered versions will be launched next year and should help gain momentum. The company has also been working to expand its dealership base from the current 31 to 48 by March 2015.

The previous generation India spec Mitsubishi Montero was sold with a 3.2-litre diesel engine producing 202 PS; while the Outlander was only available in a petrol avatar powered by a 2.4-litre 4-cylinder engine tuned to produce 170 PS under the hood. The engines are likely to be retained on the new models with AWD offered as standard. Along with an upgrade in power and features, both the SUVs are expected to get a slight bump in prices as well with the Outlander starting from Rs 21 lakhs, whereas the Montero would be priced above the Rs 35 lakh mark.