Mitsubishi is bringing back another familiar name

Mitsubishi has reached into its back catalogue for a name again, confirming it’ll resurrect the Grandis as a lightly restyled Renault SUV.

Last used on a people mover sold here from 2004 to 2010, the reborn Grandis is expected to be a lightly restyled Renault Symbioz for the European market.

It’ll be revealed in July, before going on sale in the northern autumn (September to November) of 2025.

It’s one of two new models joining the Mitsubishi Motors Europe lineup during 2025, with the other being an electric SUV expected to be a lightly restyled Renault Scenic. Both will compete in the European C-segment.

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They’ll join the Colt and ASX, which are lightly restyled Renault Clio and Captur models.

Like these, it features a unique front grille and its own badging, but otherwise visual changes are expected to be minute.

As the HEV badge indicates, the Grandis will use a hybrid powertrain, though Mitsubishi has also confirmed a mild-hybrid petrol powertrain will also be available.

The Grandis name is derived from the Latin word meaning “large” and “impressive”, but the new car is considerably smaller than the old, 4760mm-long Honda Odyssey rival it was once used on.

Revealed last year, the Symbioz measures 4413mm long, 1797mm wide and 1575mm tall on a 2638mm wheelbase, slotting it in between Renault’s Captur (4227mm long) and Arkana (4568mm long).

That would make it a logical replacement for the axed Eclipse Cross should it come to Australia.

It rides a stretched version of the CMF-B architecture that underpins the Renault Clio and Captur among other Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance vehicles.

At launch in Europe, the only drivetrain available in the Symbioz is an E-Tech hybrid system comprising a 69kW 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, a 36kW traction motor, 18kW high-voltage starter generator, and a 1.2kWh battery pack.

These components work together through a “multi-mode clutchless dog box” with four gears for the petrol engine and two for the main electric motor, and the whole system has a total power output of 107kW.

Fuel economy is said to be a miserly 4.6L/100km using the WLTP standard.

Standard on all Symbioz models is a 10.4-inch portrait-oriented touchscreen running the OpenR infotainment setup and featuring Google built-in with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

It’s quite a transformation for the Grandis name, which in its previous life was used on a people mover rival for the Honda Odyssey.

However, it’s arguably not quite as big a departure as the Eclipse Cross was from the original Eclipse, which was a sporty coupe.

Mitsubishi has been busily reusing old names over the past few years. It also dusted off the Airtrek nameplate, last used on a small SUV, for a short-lived, Chinese-market small electric SUV.

The Express was reborn once again as a van, while the new European Colt occupies the same segment as the last Mitsubishi-developed Colt.

It remains to be seen whether Mitsubishi Europe’s version of the Renault Scenic will also use a classic nameplate.

Mitsubishi’s restyled Renaults had originally been intended only for Europe before the brand confirmed earlier this year the Captur-based ASX would come here as a replacement for the aged Japanese-developed model of the same name.

It’s unclear whether any of these other rebadged Renaults will come here.

It’s also unclear whether these models will even come here with Renault’s diamond logo on them, though Renault Australia has expressed interest in bringing the electric Scenic Down Under.

MORE: 2025 Renault Symbioz revealed as hybrid Nissan Qashqai rival