Honda ute to be a rebadged Mitsubishi Triton, report says
Words: Richard Edwards
Honda is set to get its first ladder-frame ute, and it will come from Mitsubishi rather than its own engineers.
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reports Honda will sell a rebadged version of the Mitsubishi Triton in Southeast Asian markets from as early as 2028, with other regions under consideration.
The Triton is built at Mitsubishi’s plant in Thailand, the same factory that produces the Nissan Navara, itself based on the Triton. A Honda version would make it the third badge on the one ute.
Honda does not currently offer a body-on-frame ute anywhere in the world. Its only pickup, the Ridgeline, is a unibody design related to the Pilot SUV, built in the United States and sold only in left-hand drive.
According to the report, Honda is chasing the ute as a way to lift its volumes in Southeast Asia, where the segment is a major part of the market. For Mitsubishi, the deal would increase utilisation of the Thai plant and spread the cost of the Triton programme across more vehicles.
Yomiuri reports Honda is also interested in sourcing other Mitsubishi models, although none have been named, and the two companies are weighing joint development of components such as instrument displays.
Honda and Nissan ended merger talks in February 2025 but have continued to explore ways to work together, with Mitsubishi part of those discussions. Reuters reported in mid-2025 that Nissan was in talks to build pickups for Honda at its underused Canton plant in Mississippi, pointing to a version of the US-market Frontier.
Neither Honda nor Mitsubishi has confirmed the Triton arrangement, and there is no indication at this stage of whether a Honda-badged ute would come to New Zealand.
