ISUZU-BASED BT-50

The new BT-50 pickup truck, fully redesigned for the first time in nine years and supplied to Mazda on an OEM basis by Isuzu Motor, has been revealed in Hiroshima, Japan, and is now available in South-east Asia and Australia. While the local Mazda subsidiary has confirmed that the new BT-50 will definitely come to South Africa, it was deliberately vague on timing.

However, given that the new Isuzu D-max will be built locally, it will make sense to also build the BT-50 derivative for Mazda in the Struandale plant, and this means a launch date in the second half of next year to coincide with the introduction of the D-max here.

According to Mazda the lines of the new BT50 expresses the unique features of the Mazda Kodo design theme with power, toughness, and utilitarian functionality suited to a pickup truck. It was developed with the intention of making travel and the time spent inside the vehicle exceptionally pleasant and its driving performance, functionality, and safety “meet the active needs of the wide range of situations in which customers may use pickup trucks”.

The new BT-50 shares its chassis, engine, and drivetrain with the Isuzu D-max and this means it will be equipped with the Isuzu-developed three-litre turbodiesel mill delivering 140 kw at 3 600 rpm, and 450 Nm of torque from 1 600-2 600 rpm, coupled to a six-speed manual- or automatic transmission with twowheel-drive or Terrain Command 4×4 system.