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Mystery hybrid in Mitsubishi NZ’s sights for 2026
Richard Bosselman
Sept 10, 2025
Consumer swing toward self-replenishing petrol-electric has forced the PHEV expert to fill take a step back.
PETROL-electric with a plug having become a hard sell, Mitsubishi in New Zealand here is now out to score something it has until now bypassed - a more simplistic hybrid car.
Determination by the PHEV kingpin to deliver ‘self-involved’ battery-assisted tech to a product next year is still a work in progress.
Exactly what model is under evaluation is being closely guarded, but MMNZ chief operating officer Tony Johnston says it would be logical to assume a crossover or sports utility makes the most sense.
For now, his sole comment is simply that “we are working on a hybrid model that we should … well are hoping to … bring the market next year.”
Independent research suggests at least two global projects set to come into play could fit.
One is a new version of the Outlander that has historically been a Kiwi hit. It’s set for release in North America with a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine similar to the one found in the Eclipse Cross, but with a mild hybrid system developed in Japan.
The other project presents a new theme for an old nameplate from Japan often seen here on used imports.
Mitsubishi’s effort in Europe involves a Grandis crossover (below) that’s a rebadging of a car from Alliance partner Renault.
A version of the Symbioz marries a 80kW engine with two electric motors, a 36kW drive motor and a 15kW generator, fed a 1.4 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion traction battery.
Beyond EV and hybrid modes it has a driver-selected E-Save that maintains the charge level of the drive battery at 40 percent or more, so reserving power for when EV driving is desired or where the engine requires assistance from the electric motor.
The French connection could be helped by Mitsubishi in Australia, which has begun to adopt rebadged Renaults for its own purposes, starting with an ASX that is a Renault Captur. That car usurps the Japan-made ASX that is set to continue in NZ for at least another year, but has been bumped from our Australia because it cannot meet a new safety rule.
Johnston says whatever car is secured for NZ it will be an additional choice and won’t endanger the current PHEVs.
His operation holds hope that subdued consumer response to a technology availing as an option to pure petrol engines across its core Eclipse Cross and Outlander crossover families will be transitory.
Until end of 2023, when Government pulled electric vehicle incentives, PHEVs were hot property - on occasion the Outlander was one of the country’s top selling cars.
When the latest line introduced, demand for the electric-involved versions was so strong buyers of some variants endured a 12 month wait.
But all that is history. First the PHEV/EV rebate was curtailed and then, in April of last year, Government introduced Road User Charges to mains-replenished electrics.
PHEVs were smacked hardest by the RUC change as their drivers already paid petrol tax; perception was that previously favourable running costs simply dissipated.
Johnston has personal doubts about whether RUCs were solely instrumental; he believes people were by then already looking for excuses for not to go electric.
“People live and cope with road user charges on diesel vehicles all day every day. And the vast majority of cars bought in NZ are bought by fleets, and most of them are used running things, dealing with road user charge.”
So was the cessation of incentives the issue? He can’t say that’s entirely it, either.
“The Government stopped talking positively about electrification … but just from a fashion point of view, all of a sudden electric cars weren't cool anymore, so people stopped buying them.
“No one in the industry can put a finger on exactly why. There's no rational reason why all of a sudden it went from flavour of the month to no-one wanting them.”
For all last year’s market-wide issues, 2024 was the third best year for registrations ever for MMNZ.
That performance was “crazy in a market down nearly 12 percent terms of total numbers of sales.
“If you take out the two COVID years, which we had phenomenal years in, it's our best year ever. So crazy, crazy numbers.”
Still, the environment is very, very tough and challenging “and I can't see it getting any easier anytime soon.”
It’s obvious PHEVs are not resonating as well they once did, he concurs: “Certainly the demand isn't as strong as it once was, that's for sure. The market's just turned off anything with a plug and decided hybrid's the easy way to tick the Green box.”
While Outlander is still holding its own, and is expected to raise more interest now a facelift has hit the market, there’s more reliance now on the pure petrol 2.5-litres.
Eclipse Cross volume, meantime, is being tightly monitored these days.
He agrees with industry thought that until introduction of Road User Charge on fully petrol cars comes about, probably in 2027, then MMNZ will be hampered to fully regain sector health. It’ll probably be the same for all PHEV providers.
Meantime, the trend toward hybrid has to be countered. A technology Mitsubishi essentially leap-frogged - with 2014 Outlander being NZ’s first PHEV - now cannot be ignored, given how much it has resonated with Kiwis.
HEVs were the only drivetrain type to enjoy increasing sales last year, when the market as a whole was in a slump and EVs and PHEVs particularly bombed.
That preference has been a windfall for the market leader, Toyota NZ, which this week announced achievement of 100,000 new hybrid sales since it dropped in the type-first Prius back in 2003.
Now the only Toyotas without hybrid are its sports cars; all Lexus models also have the tech. The now hybrid-dedicated RAV4 is so far the country’s top selling passenger choice, with 5184 units sold year-to-date.
TNZ comment sees hybrid being a factor in achieving a lower-carbon future - it claims the sale of 100,000 hybrid vehicles represents a saving of 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of adding 33,000 EVs to the national fleet.
Conversely, the Motor Industry Association - which acts for most distributors - offers thought hybrids alone will not do enough to allow NZ to reach the CO2 reduction targets set for the automobile industry, a big one cropping up in 2027. For that, a big lift in PHEV and EV sales is needed.
Within the PHEV space, regardless of the slump, there is a growing count of competitors - all from China - seeking to set up on turf that MMNZ could not so long ago pretty much claim dominant dibs.
“It's a very, very cluttered competitive field,” Johnston says.
“There's a lot of vehicles to choose from. There's an oversupply and new competitors coming into the market. Some at a great rate of knots.”
His brand’s advantage? It’s well-established, highly credible and has strong customer loyalty. That counts for a lot, he says.
Unknown brands entering the scene in hope they can achieve success simply on selling cars with a strong specification and price point need to understand Kiwis are careful and cautious about who they support and why.
Credible warranties, strong retail representation, solid repair structures and ready access to replacement parts are important tools.
Industry chat about some recent arrival makes forcing cars off the road for months while awaiting just a replacement windscreen is hardly a plus point, he argues.
“We (MMNZ) have a 60 year legacy in NZ of loyalty and value, and we've got 20 million bucks worth of parts sitting in Porirua at any given time.
“So if anything goes wrong with your car, you have an accident or whatever it is, we've got a 98 percent fill rate. You won't be able to say that about any of the Chinese brands.”
Not only is the durability of those cars remains unknown, likewise their secondhand value.
“So you're taking a massive leap of faith. People might get attracted by some shiny trinkets and things like that (but) if you actually look at a whole of life sort of thing, it probably doesn't really stack up. But again, people will make a decision based on superficial things sometimes.”
He wonders if some new arrivals might turn out to be short stay involvers.
“The job for them to create knowledge of their brand and get customers to believe that they might actually have a future.
“It's a big expensive road uphill that when you're selling 20, 30, 50 cars a month,
“I just can't see how they can actually justify advertising, standing up dealerships, having the technical service backup, the parts back up … all those sorts of things.
“Everyone thinks that car dealers or even distributors make a lot of money out of cars, but there isn't that much money in cars.
“You only have to look at financials. Most of 'em are making less than two percent return on turnover. So it's not a great return really for investment.”
Given the NZ new passenger car market an sits at just 120,000 units in most years, and barely ever tops 140,000, is there sense the pie will be sliced too thinly? Would there come day when Government might feel compelled to intervene?
He doubts it. “We're a free market and they (the Government) think competition is a good thing, and to a degree I suppose it is.
“But it's going to be a challenge and consumers are going to be impacted probably in the longer term, whether that's positively or negatively, I guess time will tell.”