The Mitsubishi Pajero iO is a

mini SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

produced by the Japanese manufacturer

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

between 1999 (since June 15, 1998, in three-door form, and August 24, 1998, as a five-door) and 2007. The "iO" name is derived from the Italian for "I" which, according to Mitsubishi, "generates an image of being easy to get to know, easy to drive, and of being one's very own Pajero".

Overview

It was exported as the Montero iO, and to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as the Pajero Pinin, Shogun Pinin or simply Pinin to honour

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian mu ...

, which built the local market versions of the car at their factory near

Turin, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

."First Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin rolls off the line at the opening of the new Pininfarina Bairo Canavese Factory"
Mitsubishi Motors press release, July 7, 1999 It was also produced in Brazil as the Pajero TR4 from 2002 to 2015 under license. The name was changed after imported versions were referred to as "1.0" instead of "iO", which could lead to confusion about the engine sizes. The Brazilian TR4 was Mitsubishi's first

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

flexible-fuel vehicle A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol o ...

- running on

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

or a combination of the two - when it was introduced in July 2007.Facts & Figures 2007
, Mitsubishi Motors website The car is also produced in China by

Changfeng Automobile GAC Changfeng Motor Co Ltd is a Chinese automobile manufacturer wholly owned by GAC Group but which originated as a branch of the People's Liberation Army. Changfeng produced mainly light trucks, and as of 2008 the majority of their sales had bee ...

under the Liebao (Leopaard) brand as the Changfeng Liebao Feiteng CFA 6400. File:Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin rear 20100525.jpg, Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin 3-door File:2005 Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin GDi Elegance 2.0 Front.jpg, 2005 Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin GDi Elegance File:2005 Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin GDi Elegance 2.0 Rear.jpg, 2005 Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin GDi Elegance File:2001-2002 Mitsubishi Pajero iO (QA) ZR 5-door wagon 01.jpg, 2001–2002 Mitsubishi Pajero iO ZR 5-door wagon (Australia) File:2001-2002 Mitsubishi Pajero iO (QA) ZR 5-door wagon 02.jpg, 2001–2002 Mitsubishi Pajero iO ZR 5-door wagon (Australia) File:Changfeng Liebao Feiteng CFA 002.jpg, Changfeng Liebao Feiteng CFA 6400

Annual production

''(sources
Facts & Figures 2000Facts & Figures 2005Facts & Figures 2008
Mitsubishi Motors website)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsubishi Pajero Io Pajero IO Cars introduced in 1998 2000s cars 2010s cars Mini sport utility vehicles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles