'Very important' change for popular ute

Isuzu’s new 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine takes the mantle from the outgoing 1.9-litre as the smaller option in the brand’s range, but it’s not solely a move for product improvement.

While Isuzu spruiks the new engine as being smoother and more refined, as well as more powerful than its 1.9 predecessor, another big benefit for the brand comes as a deliberate side effect.

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A new engine Isuzu hopes will see improved uptake in showrooms is important for the brand, which sells only the diesel-powered D-Max ute and MU-X large SUV, in the age of increasing emissions regulations in the form of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).

Carmakers are penalised for selling models that produce higher emissions than a particular benchmark and given credits for selling cars that fall under those limits.

Thanks to the new engine’s lower emissions, Isuzu Ute Australia Managing Director Junta Matsui told CarsGuide the 2.2 is key to the brand meeting those requirements in the next couple of years.

“The 2.2-litre is reducing CO2 emissions to some extent. It’s very important for us to make it a success, for our branding strategy and for coping with NVES,” Matsui said.

The 2.2-litre, while slightly more efficient than the 1.9, is also much-improved over the predecessor with the hope it will capture a bigger slice of the model's sales mix against the more popular 3.0-litre engine.

The 1.9-litre engine, for example, produced 180g/km of CO2 in the D-Max compared to the 2.2-litre engine’s 174g/km. But the 3.0-litre still produces 187g/km.

Limits on CO2 for 2025 sit at 210g/km, but drop to 180g/km in 2026.

“People in Australia really got used to the 3.0-litre engine. [We’ve brought] so much effort to marketing the 2.2-litre so it’s becoming strategically very important,” Matsui added.

But whether the 2.2 catches up with the popular 3.0-litre engine as a drivetrain choice is yet to be seen, with Isuzu hoping people come to find the 2.2 an acceptable alternative.

“We don’t know, but to some extent hopefully it’s going to be accepted by the Australian people. But how much you can do, we are not sure.”