The Mitsubishi Pajero is a sport utility vehicle manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. It was named after Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas cat which is native to the Patagonia plateau region of southern Argentina.[3] However, since pajero is an offensive term for "wanker" in Spanish,[2] alternative names have been used for many markets overseas. It is known as the Mitsubishi Montero (meaning "mountain hunter"[4]) in Spain, India, and the Americas (excepting Brazil), and as the Mitsubishi Shogun in the United Kingdom. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Car Plaza. Discontinued in the United States in 2006, the vehicle continues to be sold in the rest of the world in its fourth-generation iteration. Thanks to their success, the Pajero, Montero and Shogun names were also applied to other, mechanically unrelated models, such as the Pajero Mini kei car, the Pajero Junior and Pajero iO/Pinin mini SUVs, and the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero/Shogun Sport. Main rivals are the Land Rover Discovery, Toyota Land Cruiser Prado SWB/LWB and Nissan Patrol. The first Pajero prototype was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in November 1973. The Pajero II prototype followed in 1978, five years later. Mitsubishi’s aim was to create more of a recreational vehicle, not just an SUV. In January 1983, the first Pajero made its debut at the Paris Dakar Rally, taking first place in 1985 at only the third attempt. To date, the Pajero is the most successful vehicle in the Dakar Rally (winning its class 7 out of the last 10 races, and 15 of the full 32 races).[5] This not only gave the Pajero an offroad reputation, but also helped in the sales department.