Mitsubishi Is Officially Returning To Britain In 2026

For decades, Mitsubishi had a comparatively small but loyal customer base in the UK, made up of farmers and builders who bought their tough 4x4s like the Shogun and L200, rally nuts who gobbled up various iterations of Lancer Evolution, and those who favoured the value brought by their more mainstream offerings.

That customer base, though, wasn’t enough to sustain Mitsubishi’s UK offerings, and the brand pulled out of the UK market in late 2021 in the face of dwindling sales. After it was hinted at earlier this year, though, Mitsubishi is officially coming back to Britain in summer 2026, bringing an end what will be nearly five years away.

As before, Mitsubishi cars will be imported by International Motors, which oversaw the brand’s original UK arrival back in 1974. IM also handles the UK distribution of Subaru, Isuzu and newcomer Chinese brands GWM Ora and Xpeng.

Details on the brand’s return are still thin on the ground, but the company’s lineup will likely look rather different from when it last sold cars in Britain. Nowadays, several of Mitsubishi’s offerings in mainland Europe are essentially rebadged Renaults – the Clio-based Colt, Captur-based ASX and newly revealed Scenic-based Eclipse Cross EV. Indeed, the last of those is our best guess at the car hiding beneath a cover in the sole teaser image accompanying this announcement.

The company does still sell a couple of more independently-developed models, though. There’s the latest Outlander, which shares underpinnings with the Nissan X-Trail but gets the same plug-in hybrid powertrain as the previous gen car. There’s a new generation of L200, too, which we wouldn’t be surprised to see come to Britain, given the old one’s popularity in the pickup market.

Sharon Townsend, Mitsubishi’s UK boss, said: “We’re delighted to be introducing exciting new Mitsubishi vehicles to our loyal UK customers. Over the past few years, we’ve continued to see enthusiasm for the brand, which has strongly influenced this decision. By building on our trusted aftersales network and dedicated retailer partners, we are committed to providing an exceptional ownership experience.”

The company says various dealers are currently being appointed to handle retail and aftersales, likely drawing from IM’s existing dealer network. More details on Mitsubishi’s UK return will arrive before cars hit showrooms next summer. We still wouldn’t hold our breath for that Evo XI, though, even if that particular dream isn't entirely dead.

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Mike joined Car Throttle as a Staff Writer at the start of 2024, a role that sees him driving the news desk, as well as reviewing cars and (often unsuccessfully) pitching features on obscure Italian hatchbacks.

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