Mitsubishi has resurrected the Airtrek name for a new SUV that should be in showrooms by the end of this year. The Airtrek badge was previously used in the early 2000s on the first generation of an SUV that would morph into the Outlander, the car that pioneered the idea of a plug-in SUV.

Allegedly created exclusively for the Chinese market, the Airtrek is designed as an “e-cruising SUV”, says Mitsubishi. Which presumably means it’s intended for gentle highway use, and not for tackling the Rubicon Trail, or whatever the Chinese equivalent is. When sales kick off at the end of 2021 it will be Mitsubishi’s fourth model for the Chinese market.

The carmaker has also given us three words that it says help explain the vehicle: electric, expressive and expanding. The electric bit is obvious, and expansion refers to Mitsubishi’s keenness to grow sales in China. And expressive? That must be the mean-looking headlight treatment, where the headlights and DRLs are split by a chrome strip, as on the whacky 2019 Mi-Tech beach buggy jeep concept. The company claims the Airtrek gives off “an image of advanced sophistication”. Well, it would say that, wouldn’t it, but from what we can see, it has the makings of a fairly handsome SUV.

Related: Mitsubishi MI-Tech Concept Packs Augmented Reality Windshield, Sophisticated PHEV Drivetrain

Mitsubishi’s announcement was lighter on technical detail than an octuple-motor 7400 kW hydrogen supercar proposal on Kickstarter, but we know the Airtrek will be made in China. And given Mitsubishi’s ties with Renault-Nissan, it seems very likely it will share a platform with something like the Nissan Ariya.

If it does share the Ariya’s technical makeup, the Airtrek could deliver as much as 389 hp and reach 62mph in close to 5 seconds in its most potent form. Less powerful Ariyas are rated at 7.5 seconds to 62mph and have a range of well over 300 miles.

The Airtrek will be Mitsubishi’s first electric SUV, but not its first electrified SUV. Having beaten most car companies to the market with an electric car in the form of the i-MiEV in the 2000s, it then developed the Outlander PHEV, the world’s first plug-in SUV.

For all the latest stories from the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, head to our dedicated hub here.