Why the 2026 Mitsubishi ASX Aspire is a $47k Risk (Part 1)

After fifteen years of selling a “geriatric” platform that was essentially the white goods of the car world, Mitsubishi has finally blinked. Faced with rising competition and the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), they couldn’t afford to develop a new small SUV from scratch. Instead, they’ve gone to Renault, bought a couple of Capturs, and slapped a Three-Diamond badge on the nose.

French cars are not known for longevity or value for money, and that makes the Mitsubishi move unfathomable, despite their company ties. This radical move turned the ASX badge from a $25k budget hero into a $47,000 European lifestyle statement. But as we dig into this new “Aspire” trim, we have to ask: has Mitsubishi abandoned the very people who made the brand a success?

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The “Ring-Clenching” Sticker Shock

The most jarring thing about the 2026 ASX isn’t the styling, it’s the invoice. The mid-range Aspire now asks for a $42,690 MSRP, which balloons to a staggering $47,000 driveaway.

For context, that is a $13,000 jump over the entry price of the old model. Mitsubishi is betting that loyalists will follow the ASX up a perceived ladder, but the ASX is premium in name only. The Google-powered dashboard and a French chassis are great, but the cabin is very low-rent. It is slathered with acres of nasty plastic and a design that looks a generation old.

At $47k, the ASX is no longer competing with the “cheap and cheerful” crowd; it’s now in a cage match with the Volkswagen T-Roc and high-spec Toyota Corolla Cross hybrids, and a bunch of better-value Kias and Hyundais. Then there are the Chinese brands slamming all the legacy brands left and right. We leapt from the ASX into a Tiggo 7 PHEV that cost 9 grand less (at its current discount), and $4,000 less at the regular driveaway price. It was bigger, cheaper, a better drive, more economical, and had vastly superior cabin design and execution.

Interior: Google Intelligence vs. French Quirks

The cabin is meant to be “Euro-chic,” but it feels cheap. The centrepiece is a 10.4-inch portrait screen running Google Built-in. It’s arguably the best tech in the segment, giving you native Google Maps and Spotify without needing to faff with your phone. However, it’s not all smooth sailing. The Google Assistant has a bizarre habit of reading out the temperature in Fahrenheit while the screen clearly shows Celsius.

PRO TIP: If you want to know how hot it is without doing mental maths, you have to explicitly ask for the temperature “in Celsius.”

Not only that, my phone disconnected from the system, or so it said. “Hey Siri” commands no longer worked and continued to refuse reconnection. CarPlay switches the Bluetooth link to Wi-Fi, so your connected Bluetooth devices list is no help. It turns out it was half-connected the whole time, sending all the text attempts along with the commands I screamed at the phone – oh dear. Language darling, language.

While the light grey cloth seats look modern and airy, the fabric feels as cheap as the tacky plakky dash. Then there is the trim; the cabin is plagued by Piano Black plastic, a material that looks premium for precisely ten seconds before being covered in fingerprints and dust. And then there’s the “e-shifter” toggle; it looks cool, but it’s a potential long-term reliability headache in a car that Mitsubishi expects you to keep for ten years. Drive-by-wire units eventually stop, without exception. It is enough to doom a classic Silver Seraph/Arnage to the parts bin as seen on the Car Wizard’s YouTube channel.

Above: This Week’s VIDEO Review –2026 Mitsubishi ASX and why it doesn’t stand a chance

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ABOVE: 2025-26 Mitsubishi ASX

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The Downsize Dilemma

Despite looking more substantial, the new ASX is actually 13cm shorter than the old one. Mitsubishi has used “smarter packaging” to keep the interior usable, but the reality is a narrower cabin.

The sliding rear bench is a clever “party trick”—you can slide it forward to expand the boot to 616L or back to give your passengers legroom. But you can’t have both. If you try to fit three adults across the back, things become “decidedly cosier” than most friendships can handle.

Oh, and there is the spare tyre, a $750 option. Can you believe they have the gall to hit you up for 750 smackers on a car that is already hideously overpriced?

Performance: The 1.3L “Warhorse”

Gone are the ancient, thirsty 2.0L and 2.4L engines. In their place is an allegedly thrifty 1.3-litre turbo four-cylinder (113kW/270Nm) and a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT).

It’s significantly more refined than the “appalling” old CVT. DCTs are super-fast on the changes when under stress, but around town is a clunky affair. Worse still, fine parking manoeuvres are a horror show as the clutches grab and release.

Merge onto a freeway and you’ll hear that little engine “screaming for mercy” as it hunts for just the right gear. On our test, we couldn’t match the optimistic 6.4L/100km claim, seeing a real-world 7.2L/100km instead. When a Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid is doing 4.2L/100km for similar money, the ASX’s fuel bill starts to look like a liability. To make matters even worse, our Haval H6 PHEV did 0.6L/100km and was much bigger with a much longer equipment list. Like the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV, which is the next review victim, the H6 has heated/cooled seats, multi-zone climate control, and a comfortable cabin that looks more modern with classy soft-touch surfaces.

Verdict: A Shark Tank Entry

The 2026 ASX Aspire is a much better car than the one it replaces, but it’s also a much more expensive gamble. It’s no longer the “default” choice; it’s a “lifestyle” choice that looks like a poor one when you compare to the Tiggo 7 PHEV below.

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