Pajero-Montero-Shogun- The Saga of the Underdog

I have not written the past one year. I decided to write again and started with a car which I simply love, the Pajero.

It was the year 1983, Mitsubishi launched its new 4WD vehicle THE PAJERO, named after a South American wild cat which was known for its fast agile movement and climbing abilities. However people at Mitsubishi didn't realize until later that the word PAJERO in Spanish is a slang. So the Pajero was marketed as MONTERO in North America and other locations with Spanish speaking population and as SHOGUN in the United Kingdom. In 1983 most of the 4x4 vehicles were called JEEPS or 4WD vehicle. They were made, sold and used for specific purpose with the exception of the Land Rover Range Rover. They were all very industrial and machine like fell with almost no fell of pleasure in driving them in common roads. If you weren't wearing Jeans and chewing tobacco you really didn�t qualify as a 4x4 driver. From its home land the competition it faced were the Legendary Land Cruiser which came with a million different specs and the Nissan Patrol. Both of them built for, either a) to build a nation or to go in and help people when a nation was destroyed.

]They were hardly domesticated and one could hardly use a 4x4 for as a daily driver, drop the kids off at school, go to work or go out to dinner etc kind of stuff. It was a marketing genius, placed right between the soccer moms and the rugged jeans wearing tobacco chewing dads. The vehicle was light, spacious, compact, easy to go around and more importantly cheap to buy and very cheap to run. Unlike other 4WD's of the time it actually had a real interior with gears like Dual Air Condition, Power Windows, Power Steering, and my personal favorite the Suspension seats. In Bangladesh this first generation of Pajero was the first luxury 4WD marketed and created an icon of luxury, wealth and power. Similar scenario can be found in most developing countries of that time, namely Pakistan, and Nigeria. Toyota got so nervous that they stretched the Land Cruiser 70 and softened the suspension and gave it a smaller engine and called it Land Cruiser II which evolved as the PRADO we know today.

1991: the year Pajero went into lunching its second generation Pajero. It was an engineering marvel. It was so heavily designed, researched and engineered that it's Super Select 4WD is still being used in current production Pajero's. Its engines are still used, namely the 6G series, and not only Mitsubishi, various vehicle between Chrysler Dodge and Mercedes Benz use the 6G engine parts and transmission for durability and quality. It was a car that made history with Mitsubishi but the market for 4WD vehicle started to get saturated. Other makers started tapping in to the same segment with more docile 4WD and hence the birth of the word SUV's. At the time of release of the Pajero V6 3500 DOHC 24 Valve version, it was one of the fastest production 4WD's in the planet. It had already won Paris Dakar 3 times within ten years of its production and the quality and reliability of Pajero's bowled us over. But even though the second generation of the Pajero was a big success, I think Mitsubishi didn't put its effort for marketing this vehicle in North America which probably cost them billions in the later years.

The auto segment of the Mitsubishi group failed to create its identity in the U.S market which is very important in the American society. The success of the first and second generation Pajero was transformed in to the technically successful of the 3rd Generation Pajero. Vehicle like the X5 and ML or even the Land Cruiser Prado came in to the scene. It seemed like Pajero willingly changed lanes and decided not to follow the others who always wanted to go past it for so long. And that is why the PAJERO is and always will be a fine 4WD with no fuss or frills, just plain simple 4WD vehicle. It became the underdog from being the leader, but it still wins almost every grueling 4WD rally or contest and does not pretend to be a sports car, like a lot of other SUV's with massive identity crisis. Its build quality somewhat fell in recent years but the 4th generation Pajero tries to solve the problem with a subtle voice. Refined interior with less bold exterior became the key objective of the 4th Generation Pajero. When asked to Mitsubishi designer if the new Pajero was going to look more like a X5 or ML etc, he replied if it is going to look like some other 4x4 it will look like a true 4x4 like the Range Rover and not a sedan on high springs. So we see in the new Pajero, the same meeting of circles of the front headlight as the Range rover and the rear short lights with circled tubular inner accents, similar to that of the Range Rover. Many loved the refresh and many didn't like it; but like most Pajero drivers they will learn to love it and about 70% of all previous buyers will buy a new, that's loyalty.

The question is will it succeed in playing the underdog forever, or does it need to unleash new tricks to sustain. I think if it re enters the US market with a strong identity and a mild increase of engine power with a variant of the EVO Pajero; it will come out on top again. But hey, it's a class of its own, so isn't it on top already?

Saad Khan
10/1/2007