The 2015 Mitsubishi Triton is set to launch in New Zealand in April, with no fixed release date yet set for Australia.

MITSUBISHI WILL release the 2015 Triton in the land of the long white cloud a full month ahead of schedule when it launches in early April. A release date for Australia is yet to be set with rumours of unsold stock of the current model holding up the release of the new model.

Shown this week at the Geneva Motor Show, New Zealand will be the second country to get the new, fifth-generation Triton after Thailand (where it’s built). According to Practical Motoring’s NZ correspondent and Yahoo Autos Editor, Richard Bosselman, the largely new Triton will mostly carry over its pricing from it predecessor and there’s no reason to suggest that won’t be the case in Australia.

What is interesting, though, is that in its prelaunch material to motoring journalists in New Zealand, Mitsubishi New Zealand is suggesting the new Triton is a “five star drive” hinting that it’s the first Triton to achieve a five-star ANCAP rating. However, the Triton is yet to be assessed by ANCAP, so…

MMNZ head of sales and marketing strategy, Daniel Cook, said it wasn’t his brand’s intention to suggest the model has been ANCAP crash-tested, but that ANCAP would run a test soon and was expected to announce a score in April or early May.

MMNZ was expressing optimism that this Triton will achieve a maximum score that already attaches to rivals including the 2014’s top seller, Ranger, Cook said.

“Our design and engineering teams are confident of a five star rating and have built the vehicle to achieve this result,” Cook said. “Obviously we can’t yet claim an ANCAP figure, but the safety levels in this new vehicle are very high and it is engineered to achieve a five-star rating.”

The current-generation Triton carries a four-star ANCAP rating.

Beyond the rhetoric, the 2015 Triton promises improved fuel consumption (down by as much as 20%) to 7.0L/100km, an 11.8 metre turning circle which matches the current model, with the top-spec GLS being “the only ute … with Super Select 4WD that enables on road driving in four-wheel drive.”

However, the Triton falls behind a few of its key rivals in some areas, like towing capacity which is only 3100kg and is only applicable to the 4WD double cab models – payload ranges from 970-1165kg. The 135kW output is identical to the current model while the 437Nm is an 81Nm hike, which although more than Volkswagen’s Amarok and Toyota’s HiLux it’s less than the Ford Ranger.

So, while Mitsubishi New Zealand is suggesting in its press material that the Triton will “rewrite the rules on what a ute can do” we’re not so sure. Whether Mitsubishi has done enough to put the Triton into the mix with the likes of Ford Ranger and Amarok remains to be seen.