Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia (MMM) has announced the price of the Mitsubishi Xpander seven-seater, which goes for RM91,369 on-the-road without insurance, with the 2020 sales tax exemption. The long-awaited Xpander was previewed two weeks ago, when order books were opened. This isn’t the official launch yet though – test drives at showrooms will start on November 20.
Locally assembled at the Hicom Automotive Manufacturers factory in Pekan, where MMM invested in setting up a new body shop, painting jigs and a tester line, Malaysia is the third country to produce the Xpander after Indonesia and Vietnam. Click here for more on the work that went behind the CKD job, including QC from MMC Japan.
The Xpander will launch in a single variant, which is uncommon these days. This means that the Xpander is as well equipped as it can possibly be, with MMM throwing in some extra Malaysia-only kit not found in other ASEAN markets. Speaking of ASEAN, the Xpander has been a successful product for MMC, achieving sales of around 270,000 units since its debut in Indonesia in August 2017.
Behind that bold Dynamic Shield face is a 1.5 litre naturally-aspirated engine with 105 PS and 141 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. The 4A91 MIVEC unit sends drive to the front axle via a four-speed automatic gearbox.
As for equipment, the facelifted Xpander comes with bi-LED reflector headlamps and LED daytime running lights. The LED eyes mark this out as the facelift (the original car had halogen lamps), along with U-shaped louvres that replace the triple slats on the grille. Also fitted are LED tail lights and 16-inch two-tone alloys.
Inside, a black interior with quilted leather seats, a 9.0-inch touchscreen head unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, a 360-degree camera system and dashcam are unique-to-Malaysia features. Elsewhere, the Xpander also comes with keyless entry with push start, a 4.2-inch colour multi-info display, six speakers and four roof-mounted rear air vents.
Safety-wise, there’s two airbags, ABS/EBD, stability control, hill start assist and Isofix child seat anchors. The one thing that MMM couldn’t do was to add to the airbag count, as this affordable people carrier was engineered mainly for the Indonesian market, and there was no strong demand for more than two airbags. This was told to us by MMM’s senior VP Hoffen Teh – check out our interview with him and CEO Tomoyuki Shinnishi here.
Once again, the Xpander is going for RM91,369 OTR with SST exemption, which means that it undercuts the Honda BR-V (RM93,420 for the top V, with sales tax exemption) and Toyota Rush (RM91,885 for the top S, with sales tax exemption), fellow CKD Japanese brand seven-seat people carriers with SUV-inspired styling. Mitsubishi’s standard five-year unlimited mileage warranty applies.
Since order taking started two weeks ago, MMM has collected over 2,000 bookings. “We would like to thank all our customers for showing overwhelming interest in the new Mitsubishi Xpander. We will try our utmost effort on production to honour these early bird customers as much as possible,” Shinnishi said.
GALLERY: Mitsubishi Xpander in Red Metallic
GALLERY: Mitsubishi Xpander colour options
What RM91K for 2 airbags?
You mean BRV also 2 airbags with RM93K with no hill assist, no surround camera and using outdated screen
Can upgrade to evo engine?
fugly underpower like brv
Copy and Paste II: “RM91k, 360 degree camera, basic safety features, well designed, 105PS DOHC. Great”
(Like) Xpander
(Dislike) BRV
Affordable. Good Specs. Well done Mitsubishi Malaysia
Nice
Oven alike third seat row as no aircon vent
What’s the difference between the BRV and Xpander? Both have the same rear AC configuration
Bring it on!
Impressive
Remind me of Toyota Avanza.
But this is perfect car though
Bloody car tax making everything expensive.
In the end the price of protons look more affordable and value for money. this is not apple to apple comparison.
We are being deprived of good cars with good safety / accessories / features in order for them to be ‘affordable’.
Will proton still be where it is if the prices were the same?
Looking at these specs vs X50? Oh yes, not only Proton will still be around, they will thrive well.
Why you comparing xpander with X50?
X50 should compare with Hyundai Kona and other b-segment. If the prices are the same by applying the same tax rate and other duties, would Proton X50 survive?
Compare exora to xpandar if you want. 1 c segment and 1 c segment.
Compare a vios with city and saga, will proton survive?
For cars to reduce price, they give the basic safety features and other accessories so that no tax is added to the cost.
You can refer to camry price and how much we pay currently. Just to show the exorbitant tax we are paying.
https://paultan.org/2018/08/16/toyota-camry-sports-on-sale-in-japan-from-rm136k/
You said compare apple to apple. Is Japan and Malaysia the same? Status of development? Per capita income? Market size?
I like your question.
i give you a tick.
Nope. it is not the same size. Neither it is the same as South Korea , Indonesia and India.
However, understanding the fundamental of business, in order to move forward in a car company, basically it is a volume game. With higher volume , that is where the cost effectiveness comes in. Since Malaysia only has a population of 30 million people, the only way is to export. However, due to failure of being cost effectiveness of Proton and Perodua and the government initiatives to export, there is lack of gain for the country.
Thus, the cost structure is the same as before and that is to have higher tax on imported cars. Inorder for Imported cars to be price attractive, safety features are stripped apart. And we are all driving cars which in order places have more safety features.
We can talk about the failure of the government initiatives to becoming a high income nation. However, in 2015 (if i am not mistaken), 1 GLC director did confess that they just discovered the disparity between the rich and the poor. And becoming high income nation (like other developed countries) remain as a challenge.
So the rakyat suffers from this and proton is only made affordable or thriving like someone says because of the tax structure which is protecting them.
Like Ahmad Maslan says “i have seen wonders on how GST works in other countries”. BUt other countries get unemployment allowance like australia. Cars are cheap in Australia. We do not get that in Malaysia and cars are expensive still.
Don’t forget about Perodua also. Instead of driving Myvi, we all could be driving Honda Jazz/Toyota Yaris or even a something else better.
RM91k, 360 degree camera, basic safety features, well designed, 105PS DOHC. Great
105PS for 7 seater? Underpowered , very
Underpowered? Seriously? Cmon that engine produces 141nm of torque. Well yes it may be a hard climb if you wanna drive in Genting but thats not the case here. Look at all the “quirks and features” it has. 360° degree cam, comfortable suspension (based on Indonesian reviews) and superb boot space leading up to 784L where as BRV has 539 when the third row seats are folded which is a MAHUSIVE amount of space. BRV does win for engine power wise but look how outdated the features are. No cruise control, no Android or AppleCar Play support. Its just the looks that define.
Single variant with full listed specs. Very nice
Perhaps Mitsubishi may get some bookings from exhausted x50 fans who do not want to wait 5-6 months.
hahahahah what on earth have they been drinking
Super strong sake & Asahi beer.
Local consumer will rather go for recond Wish or Estima with that price tag.
2 airbags + 4 speed + CKD = Xpensive!
More reliable for 4 Speed AT and better than Earth Dreams CVT
You call this expensive, so why BRV is very expensive than this, when BRV is considered bad spec than this
then shut up and go back to your kapcai!
I do not insist to have more air bags but the way MMM replied really disappointed me. This car is designed for Indonesian market and there is no demand there to have more than 2 air bags. Hey, here is Malaysia! We have demand to be offered with at least 6 air bags! Once again, this is not Indonesia! Geely wants to sell their car here as X70 and X50, also have to change from left to right side driving!
its like MMM killing their own product before selling
Nope! MMM wont killing their own product before selling.
Let me translate what the Japanese boss was trying to say in his poor English. Remember they think in Japanese, translate and then verbalise. It does get lost in translation. And some bits were edited out for brevity.
He is saying that the product was aimed at the Indonesian market, and the market there did not insist on more than 2 airbags. Whether that is right or wrong, let’s not speak of their market. Earning power is less, and many other factors come into play as well. To develop new modules for more than 2 airbags is costly (remember, the original target was Indonesian and maybe other under-developed markets).
Malaysia has a similar safety demand peculiarity. Cars like Avanza, Exora and BRV are all poorly specced if you want safety as a priority. Yet, they sell very well. The market is large; hence, for example, there are X50 variants that have only 2 airbags, as the choice is yours.
Cost, as mentioned in my second para is paramount to any carmaker. For Mitsubishi, where their main market in Malaysia is the 4×4 market, cars like this is just a second-tier product. It won’t target to lead the segment at all, but just to keep their name in the minds of the non-4×4 segment.
So, if you want better airbag safety, there are many other brands that can offer, especially in the gray imports catalogue.
LIKE: Xpander and Rush
DISLIKE: BRV
Ha ha. Rm91k for a two airbag POS.
Overpriced indon low quality car. Better buy proton
Low quality car is only for honda, not this brand and Xpander
Mitsubishi all the way
It will be more exciting to see this. It will be more fun
Does the Malaysian Xpander come with the Mitsubishi Evo-inspired damper valve?
Ah dooi, why compare us with our neighbor Indonesia. Lifestyle is different la. Launch something suited for this market la.. Even if bring in direct Indon spec, keep it quiet. Nothing to brag about Indonesian car and u won’t gain more sales from it, Mr President
That’s really cool to me
Dunno whether to say beautiful or ugly car. Confuse
The real game changer for Xpander, even coming with 2 airbags.
Nice MIVEC Engine made by mitsubishi. Sounds awesome
105ps nothing special
The best of Xpander
continue to buy low spec with high price, manufacturer will continue to sell low spec with high price.. dont blame on manufacturer
Almost 50mm longer and 40mm wider but smaller wheelbase than Aruz
Sorry addendum. 40mm longer, 55mm wider and wheelbase 90mm longer than Aruz
Better buy BRV than this Xpander.Low quality indon car
Handsome looking car & good size for mid mpv but selling price is a bit high
BRV has actually more power standing at 120PS where as the Xpander has 105PS but torque wise only minor at 4nm difference. But the engine in the Xpander will produce less stress so it doesn’t wear the engine out to much.
If does sell well I wanna see all the people who bought the BRV but instant regret it + waiting for the almighty Xpander Cross to arrive.