Honda to Rebadge Mitsubishi Triton Pickup for U.S. by 2028

Honda will introduce a ladder-frame mid-size pickup based on the Mitsubishi Triton for the U.S. market in 2028 through an OEM partnership. This marks the first such collaboration between Honda and Mitsubishi, and the truck will be manufactured by Mitsubishi in Thailand before being sold through Honda’s own dealer network. The rebadging deal, while not officially confirmed by either company, is viewed as a financially sensible move for Honda to avoid developing a new platform from scratch.

If approved, Honda would sell the truck through its own channels rather than Mitsubishi’s. Production would be handled by Mitsubishi’s Thai factory, with Southeast Asian rollout reportedly planned for 2028. Other export markets are also under consideration. It is unclear whether Honda will require stylistic updates beyond simple rebadging.

Triton specifications and global presence

The Mitsubishi Triton, sold globally as the L200, is about the same size as Honda’s current midsize Ridgeline. The truck was last redesigned from the ground up in 2023. It is offered only with diesel power, featuring a 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four engine available in three different power outputs.

The Triton bed is about three inches longer and one inch narrower than the bed on the Honda Ridgeline. In Australia, the suspension uses double wishbones with coil springs and stabilizer bars up front and leaf springs at the rear. The vehicle is known as the L200 in Europe and is sold in markets including Southeast Asia and Australia. Nissan already badge-engineers the Triton as the D27-generation Navara for certain markets.

Market context and competitive positioning

The new truck would allow Honda to compete directly in the popular body-on-frame segment against rivals like the Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, and Toyota Tacoma. Honda’s existing Ridgeline, sold in North America, uses a unibody architecture shared with the Pilot SUV and is powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 engine producing 280 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque, paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission and capable of towing 5,000 pounds.

The Triton could differentiate itself in the U.S. by offering a diesel powertrain. Compression-ignition engines disappeared from the U.S. mid-size truck segment after the Chevy Colorado dropped its diesel option for the 2023 model year and have not returned. In ASEAN nations, rivals for the Honda-badged truck will include the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max, Nissan Navara, and newly introduced models from Chinese automakers.

Broader collaboration and strategic shift

Beyond the pickup, Honda and Mitsubishi are exploring additional model-sharing opportunities and joint development of digital cockpits. Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are also discussing using shared electronic control units in their hybrids and EVs, and standardizing software. Adding a third model to the production line at Mitsubishi’s Laem Chabang factory in Thailand allows the company to benefit from greater economies of scale.

This strategic shift comes as Honda faces significant challenges. The company posted its first loss since going public in 1957 this spring, including a $9 billion write-down earlier this year due to restructuring its electric-vehicle business. Honda’s local sales in China have also shrunk dramatically, falling to 645,000 vehicles in 2025 from a peak of 1.63 million in 2020. Sourcing a ladder-frame chassis from Mitsubishi allows Honda to enter the rugged utility segment without the massive capital and R&D expenditure required for a ground-up development.

The yet unnamed model is expected to debut in 2028 or later.