Mitsubishi Fuso Canter. White version

Mitsubishi Fuso Canter. White version

The Mitsubishi Fuso Canter (Japanese: 三菱ふそう・キャンター, Hepburn: Mitsubishi Fusō Kyantā) is a line of light-duty commercial vehicles manufactured by Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, part of Daimler Truck, subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz Group. The Canter is manufactured since 1963, now in its eighth generation. The Canter is named after the English word describing the gait of a horse, emphasising the ‘thoroughbred’ nature of Mitsubishi trucks.

In Japan, its traditional competitors are the Isuzu Elf, the Toyota Dyna and the Nissan Atlas.

Early export sales began to South East Asia only, but shortly later the series began seeing export to other markets including Australia, New Zealand, the Near East and since the mid-eightys North America. Indonesia (there named “Colt Diesel” until 2022) has become the biggest export market since many years ago, followed by the Near East and Taiwan.

In total the Canter is marketed to more than 150 countries. Fuso operates its own factories in Japan, Chennai/India and Tramagal/Portugal, further assemblies from CKD kits exist in Egypt, Portugal, Jakarta, the Philippines, Malaysia, Turkey and Russia. The Tramagal factory supplies to Western Europe (European Union plus Norway and Switzerland) at a local sourcing rate of 50%.

Early after the DaimlerChrysler–Mitsubishi alliance was established the MMC distribution network in Europe was closed and taken over by Daimler. When the alliance failed Daimler already owned the majority in MFTBC and sales rights remained at Daimler.

Read more: History of trucks with Jim Andrews ...