WE DRIVE THE NEW L200 IN THAILAND

The L200 is one of Mitsubishi’s biggest success stories. The onetonne pick-up celebrates its 40th birthday this year and is one of the brand’s key pillars: in the UK, it’s the firm’s second bestseller.

Mitsubishi barely sells any L200s (the Trident in some markets) in Japan so doesn’t build it there but in Thailand. The country has a huge pick-up market, but import fees render trucks not built there uncompetitive. As a result, it has become a hub for pick-up production: the Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-max are among others made there.

The L200, along with the Shogun/pajero and the Mirage and Attrage city cars, is built at Mitsubishi’s plant in Leam Chabang, south of Bangkok. It’s ideally placed right next to a major port: the firm drives each machine to the terminal.

The fifth-generation L200 was launched three years ago, yet Mitsubishi has just given it what it calls an “extensive” facelift, including a substantial exterior redesign. The 2.4-litre turbocharged diesel engine remains, but a host of new safety and driver assistance features have been added and the damping and suspension tweaked.

Although it won’t reach the UK until next summer, the refreshed L200 is already on sale in Thailand, where we drove it both on and off road. It is clearly a facelift rather than a great leap forward, and while an increasing number of pick-ups are sold as ‘lifestyle’ machines, the L200 remains a hugely capable pick-up designed primarily for business use – and the extra kit makes that package even stronger.

The key for business buyers will be the final UK spec and price. The current model starts at £20,655 for a club cab. Expect a small increase for the new version.