Mitsubishi and Ram are Back to Trading Trucks
Mitsubishi and Chrysler have a long and convoluted history, and that’s an understatement. If one were to briefly skim the history of Mitsubishi models, one would be excused for quickly getting lost in an ocean of Colts and Plymouths and Lancers, all with names seemingly interchangeable.
And now they’re back at it again: Ram has announced it will more than double its lineup of half-ton trucks in the Middle Eastern market and simultaneously introduce a new one called the Ram 1200 in 2017. It’s not actually new—it’s just a rebadged Mitsubishi L200 (or Triton depending on where it is sold), which is just about the best truck not sold in the United States.
As mentioned, this isn’t the first time the two brands share a truck platform: Dodge used to sell the Mitsubishi Montero SUV as the Dodge Raider in the 1980s, and in the 90s the Dodge Dakota pickup truck was sold as, confusingly, the Mitsubishi Raider. Like we said, their naming decisions have been peculiar to say the least…
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With its imminent introduction to the Middle East, the Ram 1200/Triton L200—which is even sold as the Fiat Fullback in some markets—will be sold just about everywhere in the world except in the United States. Given that Ram doesn’t build a competitor to the Chevrolet Colorado, the Toyota Tacoma, or the GMC Canyon, bringing the Mitsubishi Triton as a Ram model could be an opportunity to finally tap into the growing mid-size pickup truck market.
Better yet, Mitsubishi could be the one to do it instead. If it did that and brought back the EVO…who knows? Its fortunes might actually turn around quite quickly.
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