Mitsubishi has confirmed the ASX VR-e, its first fully electric car for Australia in more than a decade, will reach local showrooms in the fourth quarter of this year. The compact crossover arrives on a platform developed by Foxtron, the car-making arm of Taiwanese giant Foxconn, and gives the familiar ASX badge a role it has never played before.
The announcement, made on Monday, ends a long wait for Mitsubishi fans Down Under. The last battery-electric Mitsubishi sold in Australia was the tiny i-MiEV hatch, which left the market back in 2012 after a short run. Mitsubishi Motors Australia chief executive Shunichi Kihara called the newcomer a genuine step forward for the refreshed line-up, pointing to what he described as an immersive infotainment package, bold styling, and strong electric performance.
It is also a bet on a very different kind of supply chain. Instead of building the car itself or leaning on alliance partners Nissan and Renault, Mitsubishi bought into a platform from Foxtron, the EV arm of Foxconn — the Taiwanese contract manufacturer best known for assembling the iPhone. The arrangement is unusual for a Japanese car maker, and it shows how quickly the industry's production lines are being redrawn.
A familiar name, a very different car
The ASX has been one of Mitsubishi's best-selling compact SUVs in Australia for years. The electric version, though, shares almost nothing with the petrol model that wears the same badge today. That car is built by Renault in Spain, while the ASX VR-e comes from Foxtron's factory in Taiwan, where the same vehicle is sold as the Foxtron Bria.
Buyers will get four grades: LS, Aspire, Exceed, and GSR. The GSR badge, familiar from Mitsubishi's sportier models, suggests the company wants a broad spread of buyers rather than a single stripped-out variant. The VR-e suffix is a deliberate nod to the Galant VR-4 performance sedan of the late 1980s and 1990s, when VR-4 stood for the four-wheel traction system that turned that car into a rally icon.
The styling comes from Italian design house Pininfarina, with Mitsubishi adding its own touches to the nose, tail, wheels, and cabin. An S-duct in the front bumper channels air over the bonnet, and active grille shutters open and close depending on conditions to trim aerodynamic drag.
What lies underneath
Mitsubishi has not yet published full Australian specifications, but the Foxtron Bria that forms the base of the car gives a clear picture. The Bria is offered in Taiwan with a roughly 57.5 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery, in single-motor rear-driven form making 171 kW, or as a dual-motor version producing a combined 298 kW.
Those outputs translate to a claimed 0-100 km/h sprint of 6.8 seconds for the single-motor car and 3.9 seconds for the dual-motor version. Range in the lenient NEDC lab test is put at 516 km for the rear-motor model and 466 km with both motors. Under the stricter WLTP cycle now used in Australia, expect figures closer to 430 km and 400 km respectively when Mitsubishi publishes local numbers.
DC fast charging runs at up to 134 kW, which the company says restores the battery from 10 to 80 percent in under 30 minutes. For context, that puts the ASX VR-e squarely in the same charging league as the MG 4 and BYD models it will fight in the showroom.
The Bria measures 4315 mm long, 1885 mm wide, and 1535 mm tall on a 2800 mm wheelbase. That makes it a touch shorter than a Toyota Corolla, and roughly 30 mm longer, 50 mm wider, and 95 mm longer in wheelbase than an MG 4 — a shape that sits somewhere between a small hatch and a proper compact SUV.
Kit and cabin
Inside, expect a 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment display, a 9.2-inch instrument cluster, power-adjustable front seats, a 360-degree camera, a glass roof, and ambient lighting. Mitsubishi has fitted its own steering wheel with the three-diamond badge, and local engineers have spent time tuning the suspension and steering for Australian roads.
The company's local team said global and regional development crews carried out extensive testing to give the car the responsive feel its name promises. That tuning work is part of what Mitsubishi calls its Momentum 2030 plan, which will see the electrification of new models over the coming years.
A crowded market awaits
Pricing remains unannounced, but the words coming out of Mitsubishi suggest a target around the $40,000 mark. That would put it against the MG 4, the BYD Dolphin and Atto 3, and a growing pile of Chinese electric crossovers that have reshaped the affordable end of the Australian EV market. There is even a chance the ASX VR-e undercuts the petrol ASX, which starts at about $37,700 before on-road costs, despite the electric car travelling a far shorter distance by ship to reach the country.
The stakes are real. Australia's EV market grew at a fast clip through the first half of 2026, and the sub-$40,000 segment is where much of the volume now lives. Mitsubishi knows it cannot simply lean on the badge; the car has to be right on price, range, and charging, with buyers comparing it directly against some of the most aggressive pricing in the industry.
Charging will matter just as much as the sticker price. Range anxiety has faded for many buyers as fast-charging networks spread, but the experience still varies wildly between cities and regions. Mitsubishi is not building its own charging network, so the ASX VR-e will live or die on public infrastructure and home charging. The car's 134 kW peak rate and the under-30-minute 10-to-80 percent figure at least put it on even footing with the segment leaders.
Why this deal matters
The Foxtron connection is the bigger story here. Foxconn has been pushing into electric vehicles for years, first through the MIH open-platform consortium and then through Foxtron, whose Model T electric bus was already on the road before the Bria reached production. The Bria is Foxtron's first serious production passenger car, and Mitsubishi is now its highest-profile customer.
Mitsubishi gets a modern electric platform without carrying the full development bill; Foxtron gets a mainstream brand's engineering validation and a foothold in the Australian market. For buyers, the hope is that this kind of partnership keeps prices down while the engineering polish still shows. The risks are just as obvious: a brand that does not control its own powertrain supply has less room to react when rivals cut prices or software falls behind. Mitsubishi's local tuning work is meant to offset that, but the proof will be in the first reviews.
There is also a New Zealand angle. Carsales noted that the ASX VR-e was developed with both the Australian and New Zealand markets in mind, which means a right-hand steering layout from the start, with no need for costly conversion work that has delayed other electric models in the region.
Back to the future
The i-MiEV gave Mitsubishi an early first-mover run in Australia's electric market. That tiny hatch was one of the first mass-produced EVs sold in the country, and it earned a loyal following among city commuters despite its modest range. The ASX VR-e is the company's attempt to make sure it is not last this time.
Full local pricing and confirmed specifications are expected closer to launch, with deliveries scheduled before the year is out. If the numbers land where the Bria's spec sheet suggests, Mitsubishi will have a credible compact electric crossover in a segment that is suddenly the most competitive in the country.
For more on Mitsubishi's electric comeback and other EV launches, check the EV section of this site, or revisit yesterday's look at the Smart #2 city car.
Sources: The Driven's report on the ASX VR-e confirmation and Carsales' launch coverage.