Facelifted Mitsubishi Pajero Sport here early 2020

MITSUBISHI has unveiled the mid-life facelift of its popular Pajero Sport off-road SUV, which will hit Australian showrooms early in the New Year with refreshed looks, additional safety tech, a digital instrument cluster and an upgraded infotainment system.

A powered tailgate has been added with hands-free access via foot gesture and remote access using a smartphone app that can also notify the owner if they have left the vehicle unlocked.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia PR manager Catherine Humphreys-Scott told GoAuto that changes to the Pajero Sport were made in response to customer feedback and well-received features had been maintained or refined.

She singled out the new 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster as one of the crowd-pleasing new features.

Other cabin refinements include an upgraded 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, plusher interior materials, extra cabin storage and a 220V power outlet.

Rear cross-traffic alert has been added to the list of active safety aids, along with lane-change assist, which works with the blind-spot monitoring system to alert the driver if it senses they are about to move into the path of an overtaking vehicle.

Cosmetically, the Pajero Sport’s new front-end styling features a semi-clamshell bonnet that creates more of a bluff fascia with thicker, deeper chrome grille strips and a headlight arrangement more closely resembling that of the mechanically related Triton ute.

Around the back, the Pajero Sport’s polarising light cluster design has been toned down slightly, with a new bumper design placing the reflectors lower down to make the tail-lights appear smaller.

Mitsubishi last updated the Pajero Sport range in April 2018, when it upped standard equipment levels and increased the number of five-seat variants on offer.

The model launched in December 2015 as a five-seater, with seven-seat options arriving the following July.

It is something of a value champion in the 4x4 large-SUV segment, opening at $45,500 plus on-road costs and topping out at $53,650.

The Pajero Sport remains Australia’s second most-popular ute-based SUV after the Isuzu MU-X and racked up 727 sales to the end of June this year – an increase of 6.4 per cent compared with a 5.0 per cent decline for the Isuzu, on 927 units.