Honda to rebadge Mitsubishi Triton for ASEAN from 2028 – pick-up to broaden lineup amid Chinese competition

Honda is set to rebadge its first car since the last Isuzu-based Passport rolled off the production line in 2002. The company is planning to field its version of the Mitsubishi Triton pick-up in Southeast Asia and other regions from as early as 2028, Nikkei Asia reports.

The two Japanese carmakers, along with Mitsubishi’s alliance partner Nissan, have apparently held collaboration talks since August 2024. If such a move comes to fruition, Honda’s truck will be the third model built on the Triton’s platform, after the latest Nissan Navara – all produced at Mitsubishi’s Thai plant in Laem Chabang.

A Honda pick-up would help broaden the brand’s lineup amid stiff Chinese competition, while keeping costs down. Until recently, Japanese makes had cornered the Thai and Indonesian markets, with a combined market share of around 90%.

Since companies like BYD entered the picture, however, this has dropped to between 70 to 80%, with Honda seemingly among the hardest hit – sales in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia in the first eight months fell 20% year-on-year to the 110,000 unit range.

The branching out to selling pick-ups would also capitalise on one of the last remaining sectors of the market not yet conquered by Chinese brands. While offerings from the Middle Kingdom do exist, sales are relatively low, and BYD itself cancelled plans to sell its Shark 6 in Thailand citing low demand.

There’s another benefit in store for Mitsubishi – utilising its excess factory capacity. The company’s Thai plants can build around 386,000 units annually but only churned out 170,000 vehicles last year. Takaki Nakanishi from the Nakanishi Research Institute told the publication that Honda and Mitsubishi “are able to offset each other’s weaknesses.”

Honda currently only sells its own pick-up, the Ridgeline, in North America

As a refresher, the third-generation Triton made its debut in 2023 with more angular styling, a higher-quality interior, updated infotainment and safety tech and a new 2.4 litre 4N16 turbodiesel engine. Outputs have been boosted to up to 204 PS and 470 Nm of torque, sent through either a six-speed auto or manual to an optional Super Select 4WD-II system.

Honda last offered a pick-up in ASEAN in 1996, when it sold its version of the TF Isuzu Rodeo (the D-Max’s predecessor) as the Tourmaster until 1998. Its later homegrown effort, the larger unibody Ridgeline , is only available in North America.

Furthermore, Honda is also considering taking Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid technology for its own use, given that it’s solely focused on delivering its own next-generation hybrids next year. All this adds to the already-announced collaboration with Nissan on software-defined vehicle technology . Partnership talks between all three companies had stalled, but ever-stiffer competition has forced them to speed up discussions.

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