Mitsubishi to launch flex-fuel Pajero in Brazil

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said today that it will begin selling a flexible-fuel version of the Pajero sport utility vehicle in Brazil next month as it aims to grab a bigger share of the ethanol-friendly market.

The Tokyo-based carmaker has also said it would launch a flex-fuel vehicle, which can run on any mixture of ethanol and gasoline, in the United States during the fiscal year starting in April 2009.

Flex-fuel vehicles make up more than four-fifths of the fast-growing Brazilian auto market due to an abundance of sugarcane as a source of the biofuel. They are also gaining popularity in the United States, where corn is the main source of the carbon-neutral fuel.

Among its Japanese rivals, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. also have flex-fuel vehicles on offer in Brazil.

Brazil's total vehicle market grew 12.4 percent last year to nearly 1.93 million units, a few thousand units short of the record set in 1997.