The Mitsubishi Outlander is ditching its familiar base engine in the US market in favour of something with a much smaller capacity, but it’s unclear if Australia will follow suit.
Mitsubishi in the US has confirmed the naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder in the Outlander will be replaced for 2026 with a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, borrowed from the smaller Eclipse Cross, mated with “the company’s first mild-hybrid system”.
This suggests Mitsubishi is resurrecting a short-lived Outlander powertrain launched in China in 2022.
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In the Chinese-market Outlander, the 1.5-litre turbo four was mated with a 48V mild-hybrid system and a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and featured outputs of 120kW of power and 280Nm of torque – down 15kW on the 2.5-litre, but up 36Nm.
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We’ve contacted Mitsubishi Australia to confirm if there are any plans to offer this powertrain here.
Since Chinese production ended in 2023, the Outlander is built exclusively in Japan, supplying markets such as ours and the US.
In introducing a mild-hybrid 1.5T option in China, Mitsubishi said the electric motor assist resulted in “smooth, manageable acceleration while improving fuel efficiency”.
In its US announcement this month, Mitsubishi says the new powertrain will bring “increased confidence and drivability thanks to electrified torque adding off-the-line acceleration”, though it doesn’t make note of any fuel economy improvements – or power and torque outputs, for that matter.
It says these will be released later this year, closer to the updated SUV’s fourth-quarter (October-December) launch.
After a facelift for 2025, there are no further visual changes for 2026 in the US market. However, the range is expanding to include a Ralliart variant.
The company has yet to reveal the 2026 Outlander Ralliart.
Mitsubishi only offers one electrified powertrain in the Australian-market Outlander: a 2.4-litre plug-in hybrid four. This leaves Mitsubishi without a direct rival to a growing contingent of plugless hybrid mid-size SUVs, including the top-selling Toyota RAV4.
If this powertrain remains specific to North America, Mitsubishi will be doing as Nissan has done with its mechanically related Rogue.
A twin to the X-Trail sold here, the Rogue in 2022 ditched its atmo 2.5-litre four – the same engine still used in the X-Trail and Outlander here – for a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine.
Other forbidden mid-size SUV fruit includes plug-in hybrid versions of the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage, as well as versions of these crossovers with a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine.