Mitsubishi Pajero Sport almost sold out in Australia – but will live on elsewhere

The last examples of the decade-old Mitsubishi Pajero Sport are finally about to leave the Japanese brand’s Australian showrooms, before the local launch of the born-again Pajero in December.

“Our dealers have a small quantity of stock at this moment so maybe in the next few months everything will go,” said Mitsubishi Motors Australia CEO Shunichi Kihara at the world debut of the new Pajero in Tokyo on September 2.

The news confirms an almost-perfect runout for a large off-road SUV that first arrived in Australia over a decade ago in December 2015, before being facelifted in January 2020 and again in May 2024, then discontinued due to new federal safety regulations mandated from March 2025.

However, Mitsubishi Australia will be left with just three models when it exhausts its stockpile of Pajero Sport vehicles, which continues to make it the brand’s third-best seller behind only the Outlander medium SUV and Triton ute, and the new Pajero that replaces it will be far more expensive.

Now gone from Mitsubishi’s local public website, the four-grade Pajero Sport range opened at $51,540 before on-road costs, while the fourth-generation Pajero has been priced from $68,490 plus ORCs.

Unlike the monocoque platform-based model that ceased production in 2021, the first all-new Pajero in two decades is based on a ladder-frame chassis shared with the Triton – like the old Pajero Sport – albeit in heavily upgraded from.

But the Pajero Sport will remain available in markets outside Australia including New Zealand and Thailand, where it continues to be produced alongside the related Triton and new Pajero.

In its home market, the Pajero Sport continues to be available in entry-level GT, mid-range Prime, and flagship Elite Edition forms – the latter in both rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive forms – with the Prime receiving new features in February 2025.

These included a black grille and roof rails, black 18-inch alloy wheels, bi-LED projector headlights with automatic levelling, a new three-spoke steering wheel from the Triton, power lumbar adjustment for the driver, and the availability of two-tone paint with a black roof.

Outside Australia, the Pajero Sport continues to be available with an 8.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster, and a wide range of advanced driver-assistance systems.

All variants remain powered by a 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel producing 133kW of power and 430Nm of torque – not the Triton’s upgraded twin-turbo unit outputting 150kW/470Nm, nor the new Pajero’s single-turbo diesel producing 150kW/480Nm – and offered with Mitsubishi’s Super Select 4WD-II system with 4x4 low- and high-range settings, plus gravel, mud/snow, rock and sand modes.

Known as the Challenger in markets including Australia and Japan, the original Pajero Sport was produced from 1996, before being replaced by the second generation in 2008, while the current third-generation Pajero Sport (known as the Montero Sport in Europe and the Shogun Sport in the UK) entered production in 2015.

MORE: Explore the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport showroom