Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand head of marketing and corporate affairs Reece Congdon has confirmed that a Triton ute plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) will not be coming to the market in 2023.
Congdon was responding to comments made in a Newsroom report about the New Zealand Police putting out an RFP for 50 4×4 utes to replace its ageing fleet of Holden Colorado and Toyota Hilux vehicles.
According to Newsroom, Mitsubishi had advised Police its new hybrid diesel Triton would not be available until next year.
“I’m not sure where some of the comments featured in the Newsroom article have come from,” Congdon says.
“While we are working closely with our colleagues in Japan on electrifying our range, I can say with complete certainty that a PHEV Triton will not be available in 2023,” he says.
According to Newsroom, Toyota New Zealand chief executive Neeraj Lala had confirmed his brand would not participate in the Police tender.
Lala told Newsroom that the company choose not to participate in the RFP due to constrained supply and the need to focus on existing loyal customers. He also said the brand will deliver fewer Hilux until a more sustainable alternative is available.
According to Newsroom, Lala says that Toyota New Zealand has more vehicles on back order that it has yet experienced and in the past 18 months the brand has taken more orders for new vehicles than it had delivered.
He also told Newsroom that Toyota New Zealand had been successful in converting large fleets to move their people from using a diesel ute to hybrid SUV instead.
However, when approached for more details by this publication Toyota New Zealand refused to comment on whether it had declined any other RFP from government fleets, and on just how many government and private fleets it had successfully converted from diesel vehicles to hybrid vehicles.
It also refused to comment on the average delivery time to a New Zealand customer for a new Toyota commercial vehicle from confirmed order.
The New Zealand Police have yet to respond to a request for comment from this publication.
