Mazda BT-50 dropped from South African market! But will the Isuzu D-Max twin and Ford Ranger rival stick around in Australia?

Mazda’s BT-50 ute has been dropped from yet another right-hand-drive market just weeks after it was discontinued in New Zealand.

The BT-50, which is based on the popular Isuzu D-Max but carries a different front-end design, has just been dropped from the line-up in South Africa, according to Cars.co.za.

Even though this is the second RHD market to drop the ute, Mazda says it is committed to the BT-50 for the Australian market.

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“The Mazda BT-50 remains in production and on-sale in a number of global markets including Australia,” a Mazda spokesperson told CarsGuide.

“2023 was a sales record for BT-50 in Australia of 17,526 units and its popularity continues to grow with customers across the country.

“The Mazda BT-50 is currently sold in Australia, ASEAN markets (eg: Thailand), Central and South America, the Middle East and Africa.”

South Africa has a strong history of ute sales, or bakkies as they are known there, and that’s only increased in recent years.

Last year, the top-selling vehicle in South Africa was the Toyota HiLux, with the Ford Ranger in third place. The BT-50’s twin, the Isuzu D-Max, placed seventh overall in 2023, while other utes like the Nissan Navara and the Volkswagen Amarok were in the top 30.

The BT-50 was nowhere to be seen in the top 50 best sellers last year, but there is a reason for that.

All of the aforementioned utes, except the BT-50, are built in South Africa, whereas the Mazda is built in Thailand at Isuzu’s plant, for global consumption. Because of that, it incurred tariffs that are not applied to the other South-African-made utes, and therefore became uncompetitive.

The current-generation BT-50 went on sale in Australia in late 2020, shortly after the new D-Max landed. It is unclear what Mazda will do once its deal with Isuzu to supply the BT-50 ends.