Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp sees hybrid models in South-east Asia as a key part of its electrification strategy to stay competitive in the region, chief executive Takao Kato told Reuters in an interview. While some South-east Asian governments are trying to promote full battery electric vehicles (EVs) as a way to cut CO2 emissions, Mr Kato said conventional gasoline-electric vehicles and plug-in electric hybrids were "probably a more realistic choice for the region for now". Mitsubishi decided to localise the Outlander's production in part to take advantage of incentives for hybrid technology. The use of gasoline-electric hybrid technologies to gradually replace pure gasoline-fueled cars is an emerging trend in countries such as Japan and China. Some automakers, however, appear to be focused on skipping hybrids and switching completely to "pure-electric" battery electric cars. Mitsubishi intended to produce Outlander plug-ins in Thailand with key drivetrain systems and batteries shipped in from Japan, and planned to add more hybrid models to its line-ups in South-east Asia, Mr Kato said. Aside from the plug-in Outlander, Mitsubishi will likely launch a conventional gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Xpander SUV for some South-east Asian markets over the next few years, company officials said. The gasoline-fueled Xpander car has been sold in the region since 2017, starting with Indonesia and later the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

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