22/06/2025

theSunday Special XV ON SUNDAY JUNE 22, 2025

MITSUBISHI Motors Malaysia (MMM), the official distributor of Mitsubishi vehicles in the country, is celebrating two decades of operations with the launch of an upgraded Triton Athlete. This latest iteration of the brand’s flagship pick-up truck combines refreshed styling with improved practi cality, reinforcing its reputation for rug ged reliability and dynamic perform ance. The enhanced Triton Athlete arrives at a time when Mitsubishi Motors is mark ing 20 years of presence in the Malaysian market. As part of the celebrations, the company has rolled out a series of exclu sive promotions and incentives for cus tomers. The Triton Athlete, now Leapmotor can continue to harp on the “Maserati-tuned-handling” and we admit that it does handle well, but the fact of the matter is, most buyers won’t care about that and will mostly focus on what the car has to offer in terms of features, battery and range. And that key card system is simply put, annoying and needs an urgent fix. THE latest sales figures for the month of May are out and we can now talk about the most and least popular EV mod els in Malaysia for that month. Though the top 10 are not surpris ing, the bottom three are what caught our attention. The fact that the Leapmotor C10 is right at the bottom with only 13 cars registered comes as no real surprise. Of all the Chinese brands in Malaysia, Leapmotor is probably the least aggressive when it comes to marketing and the fact that the com pany is still yet to fix the key card access feature means that more potential buyers will be attracted to other brands that seem to have their products better sorted. WRITTEN BY KESHY DHILLON EV sales dissected

duction. The model’s enduring appeal stems from its ability to combine SUV like refinement with off-road capability and day-to-day usability. Shinya Ikeda, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia, stated that the Triton has become a trusted symbol of strength and dependability among local motor ists. He added that the latest enhance ments reaffirm the brand’s dedication to evolving with customer needs while maintaining the vehicle’s core appeal. According to him, the 20th anniver sary is a moment to reflect on Mitsubishi’s journey in Malaysia and to thank customers for their unwavering support. In conjunction with the anniversary, Mitsubishi Motors is offering an exclu sive promotion for Triton Athlete buyers. For a limited period, customers may choose between a five-year free mainte nance package or up to RM8,000 in rewards. The Triton Athlete is also backed by a five-year warranty with unlimited mileage, adding to its long term value proposition. Financing packages through Maybank or Public Bank are also available, with interest rates starting as low as 0.6%. These tailored offers aim to make the range-topping Triton Athlete more accessible to customers across the coun try. To further engage with the public, MMM is launching a nationwide “Scratch & Win” contest which began on June 16. Customers who book a new Triton or XPander at any authorised Mitsubishi dealership will be eligible to participate. Upon vehicle registration and collection, they will receive a scratch card with prizes including the iPhone 16, iPad, iPods, Seiko watches, and Thule merchandise. Malaysia were still able to shift 39 units of the Taycan is commendable. And the Macan EV is in the list as well with 29 units sold but we just can’t help but wonder what is hap pening to Mercedes-Benz? The com pany only sold 23 units of the EQE and it is the only Mercedes model in the list. So which were the most popular? It comes as no surprise that the Tesla Model Y took top spot as the Juniper model was just recently launched with 985 units registered. The Juniper stopped the Proton e.MAS 7 run as the most popular EV in Malaysia which was on a charge since January. The e.MAS 7 now sits in sec ond spot. The BYD Atto 3, Sealion 7 and M6 sealed the 3rd, 4th and 5th spot, which comes as no real surprise either. The Denza D9 comes in 6th place with 129 units sold, and that is quite surprising since many thought the Zeekr 009 may be the better buy. We don’t think it’s a better buy though and we explain why in this review. In 7th spot is the Omoda E5 fol lowed by the BYD Seal in 8th then the Zeekr 009 in 9th and the Tesla Model 3 rounds up the 10 most popular EV’s. Before ending this though, we do have to tip our hats to MG Malaysia for managing to shift 14 units of the Cyberster. That’s no small feat consid ering the price of the car.

Complete list of 30 most popular EV’s in Malaysia (Model – units registered) : 1. Tesla Model Y 985 2. Proton e.MAS 7 862 3. BYD Atto 3 505 4. BYD Sealion 7 406 5. BYD M6 136 6. Denza D9 129 7. Chery Omoda E5 116 8. BYD Seal 94 9. Zeekr 009 90 10. Tesla Model 3 90 11. XPeng X9 77 12. BMW iX2 72 13. XPeng G6 48 14. Volvo EX90 41 15. BMW i5 39 16. Porsche Taycan 39 17. BMW iX1 37 18. Mini John Cooper Works 30 19. Porsche Macan 29 20. GWM Ora Good Cat 07 28

21. Mini Aceman

26 23 18 16 15 15 15 14 14 13 13

22. Mercedes Benz EQE

23. MG MG4

24. Smart #1 and #1 25. Dong Feng Box E3

26. Volvo EX30

27. Zeekr X

28. MG Cyberster

29. BMW i4 30. BMW iX

31. Leapmotor C10

We hear the team is working on it and can’t wait to see what they come up with. Will the Leapmotor C10 finally be a force to be reckoned with? If they manage to include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, then sure it will be con sidering they just dropped the price of the car to one that is more competi tive. However, the second and third least registered cars for the month of May is what caught our attention. BMW only managed to register 13 iX models and 14 i4’s. That is quite surprising because there was a time when the iX was really popular if not the most popular premium EV in Malaysia. Are people getting tired of the iX and looking elsewhere? It surely seems like it.

The i4 is another surprise. For its price point, features and range, it should be doing better. But, the car is small with little to no space around the back seats, thlis limits the type of peo ple who will be attracted to the i4. Have the mighty really fallen? We don’t think so because 72 units of the BMW iX2 were registered making it the 12th most popular model while 39 units of the BMW i5 (15th place) were registered and 37 units of the BMW iX1 (17th place) found new owners. BMW’s sub-brand Mini sold 30 units of the JCW EV (18th spot) and the Aceman found 26 homes and cap tured the 21st spot in the 30 most popular EV’s in Malaysia. We just have to say that despite its age and global slowdown in demand for its models, the fact that Porsche

20 years in Malaysia

MMM unveils enhanced Triton Athlete

offered at a revised price of RM159,980 (on-the-road, without insurance, for Peninsular Malaysia), features several design and functional enhancements. These include a more aggressive front bumper garnish that accentuates its commanding presence, a new styling bar that adds to its muscular profile, and a tailgate assist func

tion designed to make loading and unloading more effortless. A decorative body decal also gives the vehicle a dis tinctive and personalised appearance. MMM has described the new Triton Athlete as a model that reflects its con tinued commitment to delivering high quality, high-performance vehicles tai lored to Malaysian drivers. The flagship pick-up has enjoyed sus tained popularity in the market, with close to 120,000 units sold since its intro