Mitsubishi Philippines Launches The Much Awaited Strada (With Video Tour and Specs)

The Philippines is one of Mitsubishi’s key markets globally. The Strada is one of its core models and one of its best selling models. From its launch in the ’90s, the Strada has sold more than 50,000 units, and this makes us one of the most important markets for the Mitsubishi Strada. It’s no surprise then that the Philippines is the second market in the world to receive the all-new Mitsubishi Strada (Triton in Thailand).

Perhaps all-new may be an overstatement to some. Mitsubishi says the GR-HEV concept is the basis for the Strada’s design, but others say otherwise. It looks merely an evolution of the previous design to some. In my opinion, it looks great apart from the grille design, which is a design that has somehow split opinion. Top trim GLS-V and GLS-V Sport variants gain HID headlamps with LED daytime running lights, giving the Mitsubishi Strada that unmistakable look, even from afar and in the daylight. In the rear, the bed has been greatly extended. The Strada had one of the smallest beds in the segment. Not anymore in this generation.

     

Car makers seem to have a trend of making ends meet nowadays. Cars are now having crossover variants, and SUVs and pick ups are aiming to be more car-like in terms of interior design, comfort, and usability. The Mitsubishi Strada is not exception to this. The inside looks more car-like than ever, which means you get a nicely finished dash with ergonomically laid out buttons. A touch screen TFT LCD is standard across the range, while the GLS-V and GLS-V Sport gains a fancier unit with capacitive touch sensors instead of buttons. AWD models now gains the next generation of Mitsubishi’s SuperSelect AWD system. A knob is now in place of what used to be another gear lever in changing the AWD system’s power delivery. Mitsubishi claims best in class refinement and ride comfort. They claim that despite the use of a leaf-spring rear suspension, the Strada can still deliver an excellent ride quality.

The Mitsubishi Strada’s powertrain is unchanged from the previous generation. It is still the 4D56 unit, in two different states of tune (134 hp, 324 Nm and 176 hp and 400 Nm) with the more powerful, higher variant gaining VGT. A completely new, more powerful 181 hp 2.4 liter MIVEC turbo clean diesel has been launched in other countries, however, this is no word yet when this will arrive in the Philippines. Perhaps maybe in the middle of 2015 once the Philippines’ minimum fuel quality standards have been raised to Euro IV?

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation’s Vice President For Marketing Services Froilan Dytianquin aims to sell 700 of the Mitsubishi Strada per month. At launch, 6 variants are available, all of which are competitively priced from P950,000 for the GL 4×2 MT, up to P1,440,000 for the GLS-V Sport 4×4 AT.  With that in mind, we shall declare that the pick-up wars in the Philippines have just begun.

Mitsubishi Strada Specifications

     

Video Tour