About Pajero and Montero
Few off-roaders have a trophy cabinet like the Pajero's. Launched in 1982, the rugged four-wheel-drive SUV went on to win the Dakar Rally a record twelve times, and it became a staple of rough roads in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. In the Americas and Spain it wore the Montero name, since Pajero is a crude slang word in Spanish, and in Britain it was called the Shogun. It was sold in the United States until 2006.
Over four generations the Pajero gained a unibody-frame hybrid structure, sophisticated four-wheel-drive systems and diesel engines that owners trusted to cross continents. But the last generation lingered far too long, and Mitsubishi ended production in Japan in 2021 as it pivoted toward crossovers. The related Pajero Sport, a truck-based SUV built on the Triton pickup, carried on in many markets as the brand's off-road torchbearer and kept the Montero Sport name alive in some.
Now the Pajero is back. Mitsubishi has revived the nameplate as part of a push into rugged SUVs, and the new model has drawn strong orders in Japan. Reports suggest a two-door version could be developed as a rival to the Ford Bronco, and concepts at shows like SEMA hint at even bigger off-road ambitions. This page follows that revival along with the Pajero Sport and Montero Sport, the Dakar heritage, concept cars, sales reports and any word on whether the Montero might ever return to North America.