Mitsubishi to tune new BEV model in Australia

PREPARATIONS are ramping up ahead of the launch of the first mainstream Mitsubishi battery electric (BEV) model to be sold in Australia, with the marque’s re-established Australian ride and handling adjustment team retuning the Taiwan-built BEV for local tastes.

In tandem with increasing demand for its plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) needs to sell its new BEV in sufficient numbers to help offset the CO2 emissions of its higher-carbon vehicles like the Triton ute and petrol-powered Outlander medium SUV variants.

With Australia’s New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES) now in force, MMAL chief executive officer Shaun Westcott told GoAuto that, like many OEMs, Mitsubishi will “cop significant penalties” because buyers are currently opting mainly for internal combustion (ICE) or hybrids (HEVs) but not BEVs.

To increase the chance that Australians regard the Mitsubishi BEV as a solid buy, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) in Tokyo has approved MMAL to conduct tuning of the Foxconn-sourced vehicle in South Australia and at the Lang Lang proving ground in Victoria.

Engineers from Foxconn – which will assemble the BEV (wearing Mitsubishi badges and styling) in Taiwan – have already visited Australia and met with Tony Dorrington, MMAL product strategy manager and head of the local tuning team.

“We have been working on the Foxconn car, the full EV out at the end of 2026,” MMAL general manager of product strategy Bruce Hampel told GoAuto.

“Tony and the (Foxconn) team have been driving the competitive set at Lang Lang and spending all of this week getting a sense of Australian road conditions in as many places as possible.”

Mr Dorrington added that his team will be involved with tuning of the prototype version of the Mitsubishi BEV, with that process starting soon.

The MMAL tuning team has returned to its old Magna/380 tuning roads – a punishing and pockmarked route on the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia.

The BEV in question is likely to be a restyled version of the Foxtron Model B – a slightly raised hatchback measuring 4300mm in length (on a 2800mm wheelbase), 1865mm in width, and 1530mm in height.

Key rivals are expected to be the MG 4, BYD Atto 3 and Kia EV3 which, in the first six months of 2025, have accrued 2268, 1854 and 1153 Australian deliveries respectively.

Foxtron is a joint venture between Foxconn, known in the technology industry for its assembly of iPhone components, and Yulon, a Taiwanese automotive manufacturer. In May this year, MMC and Foxtron signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the supply of the BEV model.

The relevant MOU stipulated that the BEV would be “introduced in the Oceania region (Australia and New Zealand) in the second half of 2026. The timing, which affords a 14- to 20-month window for Foxtron to retool its production line for right-hand drive production, is tight.

If the Mitsubishi BEV is indeed based on the Foxtron Model B, it is likely to use the 400-volt MIH skateboard platform and offer rear-wheel drive with a 170kW rear motor. A circa-60kWh lithium iron phosphate battery will afford around 450km range (WLTP) at an efficient 13.3kWh/100km.

Behind the scenes, MMC is understood to have secured alterations to the front and rear styling of the Model B but the core body in white is expected to be shared between the Foxtron and Mitsubishi versions of the five-door hatch.

For the BEV to generate sufficient sales for MMAL to provide some NVES offset benefit, pricing will need to be competitive with the MG 4, which starts at $37,990 drive-away, or $43,000 d/a with a 64kWh battery similar to that used by the Mitsubishi vehicle.

Mr Westcott warned that the BEV needs to wash its face commercially rather than act merely as an enabler of cross-subsidies.

“We have a (BEV) product. We will bring it to market when we think the market is able to support that product,” Mr Westcott said. “It needs to be financially viable and feasible.”

The Mitsubishi BEV agreement has spurred deepening collaboration between MMC’s Renault-Nissan Alliance parent and Foxconn, with the Taiwanese conglomerate understood to be exploring the use of the former’s Japanese plants for production of other BEV models.