In an interview with Australia’s caradvice.com.au at the National 4x4 Outdoors Show in Melbourne, Senior Regional Fleet Sales Manager, Kevin Griffiths, said that the KB, or D-Max as it is known internationally, would first be revealed in Thailand along with the equally new second generation MU-X, in preparation for its market launch at the turn of the century.
According to Griffiths, the MU-X will be further differentiated from the D-Max due to customer demand, as Isuzu attempts to keep it at the top of the pick-up based, seven-seat SUV segment. In its current guise, the MU-X has proved to be a runaway success Down Under where it regularly outsells the Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Toyota Fortuner and its Holden TrailBlazer twin.
“You'll see them at the same time… you'll see the greater widening of the gap between what a D-Max looks like [compared to the MU-X]”, Griffiths said, adding that both will come equipped with the latest infotainment and safety tech such as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Adaptive Cruise Control.
“That market quite clearly is going that way, so we have to try and find something to meet that demand or we'll get left behind”, he said referring to the MU-X.
While it remains to be seen if Isuzu would retain the long serving 3.0-litre D-TEQ turbodiesel engine for both models, what is known as that neither will join the V6 oil burning fraternity following comments made back in April by the brand’s Australian Director of Product Planning, Yugo Kiyofuji.
“For the next-gen, I don’t have anything to comment on, but from my perspective, we will remain Isuzu brand. I’m not going to ask the factory to introduce V6 or 300 kW and 600 Nm. That’s not something we should set,” Kiyofuji told drive.com.au at the unveiling of the then facelifted D-Max.
“Some boast about V6 and some about figures but we are not trying to go into the battle of the figures. What we are focusing on is how the customers can use the vehicles, which is the reason we have high flat torque so the high torque from the start, low revs, that’s something the customer wants at the end of the day”.
Isuzu’s announcement of the new D-Max has also opened speculation that Mazda will introduce the all-new BT-50 at a later stage, following the signing of an agreement between the two companies last year that will see the BT-50 move away from the current Ford Ranger sourced T6 platform, and use the same engines and underpinnings as the Isuzu.
