Isuzu D-Max 2009 News

...and it's a 'Pearler'.Just 120 of the Arctic Pearl crew cab utes are being released and they come with just about everything you could want in a ute. Based on the LS 4x2 and LS-U 4x4 dual-cab D-Max utes the 'Pearler' boasts $5700 worth of genuine Isuzu Ute accessories for just $3000.The 'Pearler' gets its nickname from its Pearlescent White metallic paint, but that's just the start of the bling you get.The Pearlescent White extends to the guard flares, front bumper and hard tonneau cover, and there's also a host of blindingly bright accents like a chrome sports bar with high mounted LED brake light, chrome strips on the bonnet and lower grille intake, fog light recesses and taillights, topped off the 'Limited Edition ' badges.Inside, 'Pearler' owners are treated to custom monogrammed carpets and Blue Tooth connectivity, while out back there's a heavy rubber floor mat in the bed. There's also a large 'Isuzu' decal splashed across the tailgate, which is now a feature of all D-Max utes.The Isuzu Ute people felt their utes weren't standing enough from the rest of the Thai-built ute pack without prominent branding on the rear as most of their rivals have. That has now been addressed and there can be no mistaking the D-Max for any other brand.Being based on the LS D-Max the 3.0-litre turbo diesel 'Pearler' comes standard with air, ABS antilock brakes with EBD for optimum braking at each wheel, dual airbags, cruise, headlight protectors, fold-in mirrors with turn indicators, remote central locking, power windows, chrome rear bumper, side steps, alloy wheels and high-riding suspension.Pricing for the D-Max Arctic Pearl Limited Edition ute starts at $39,400. 

The $39,400 Arctic Pearl D-Max crew cab adds Bluetooth among the $5700 worth of extras over the standard D-Max LS 4x2 and LS-U 4x4 crew utes on which it is based (for a price rise of $3000).But despite Isuzu sponsoring national road safety initiative Fatality Free Friday with two signwritten utes, the company has baulked at providing the safety of Bluetooth as standard across the fleet.Faality Free spokesman Gary Rig says using any phone in a car is dangerous and should be banned. "However, Bluetooth would be a step in the right direction," he says.Isuzu Ute Australia marketing general manager Richard Power said making Bluetooth standard is a cost issue. "The Arctic Pearl limited edition ute is the first with standard fitting and we will review it," he says.Apart from the pearlescent paint, the Arctic Pearl D-Max includes flared wheel arch, lockable hard tonneau cover, badging, chrome sports bar with LED brake lights, and more chrome on the bonnet, front and rear. Inside is the Bluetooth connectivity, monogrammed carpet mats and a heavy rubber mat on the tub floor.Isuzu CEO Hitoshi Kono says Isuzu Ute Australia is the smallest and youngest branch of the company, having started from scratch on October 10 last year. "We built a small boat and sailed into a storm but we survived the most difficult time in the whole century; not only survived but the numbers — while not really big — are gradually increasing," he said. "In the first month we sold 50 which was a humble start. "But we have no intention of staying a small player. Our expectations are of skyrocketing high."He expects to exceed their target of 2900 sales this year by about 200. "Next year we are targeting 5000 but we think we will do better than that," Vuko said. "This is not some artificial numner. It is achievable."Sales and dealer operations general manager Paul Vuko said D-Max had sold 339 in September which was even higher than June which was a peak month for the industry. "We started with 0.5 per cent (one-tonne ute) market share and peaked at 4.2 per cent in August and now have 3.7 per cent," he said.The one-tonne ute market is biggest in Queensland with 30.2 per cent of the market, followed by NSW (26.4 per cent), Victoria (19.4), Western Australia (12.5), South Australia (6.2), Tasmania (2.7), Northern Territory (1.6) and ACT (1.1).Isuzu started with 38 dealers nationally and now has 62 dealers with seven approved satellite outlets (ASO). Vuko says they expect to boost that next year to 70 dealers and 20 ASOs, adding five of each over the following two years. "We are limiting the number of dealers so we allow them to make a decent profit," he said.Queensland has 14 dealers, NSW 17, Victoria 11 and Western Austalia 11, South Australia four, Tasmania three, NT two and ACT one. "We only have two dealers in Sydney and we are looking at six. That is a market we could really improve," Vuko says.D-Max private sales represent 65 per cent of their business, while fleet was 34 per cent and government 2 per cent. However, the one-tonne ute market has 71 per cent fleet sales, 21 per cent private and 9 per cent government. "So there is a lot of potential in fleet sales for us," Vuko says.D-Max is fourth highest in the private one-tonne ute market behind HiLux, Mazda BT-50 and Holden Colorado. The high percentage of private buyers is also reflected in the high average amount customers spend on accessories.Kono says the average spend on accessories is about $3200. "Nowhere else in the world does the customer spend as much on accessories as in Australia," he says. 

The new Space Cab SX 4x4 cab-chassis is priced just $2200 more than its single cab-chassis cousin, with a price tag of $35,800 before add-ons, or $37,476 MRP with the approved alloy tray body.The Space Cab offers a spacious cabin with valuable room behind the seats to securely stow valuable tools and equipment. The Space Cab SX 4x4 comes equipped plenty of standard features, including air, ABS with EBD and LSD, dual airbags, power door locks, remote entry, CD/MP3 sound and power windows.Isuzu Ute continues to expand its dealer network and now has 62 dealers now operational, along with another eight satellite outlets. A further 12 satellite outlets are planned in the near future. Sales of the D-Max have now passed the 2000 mark.

RETIRED V8 Supercar racer Paul Weel is going back to his motorsport roots with an all-out attack on the 2009 Australasian Safari.Weel began as an off-road racer and is heading back into the bush for the Safari, driving a V8-engined Holden Colorado.But there is a twist.He is doing the outback enduro in Western Australia with his father, Kees, as his co-driver. And their car is one that Weel Snr crashed in last year's Safari.Weel is so committed to success he even ran a 500-kilometre test last week, the first time he drove a competition car since a massive crash at Bathurst last year which could easily have been fatal. He was T-boned in his PWR Commodore at the top of Mount Panorama."I'm pretty excited. It's been quite a while since my Bathurst accident, so it's great to finally be back behind the wheel of a racing car again," Weel says."I'm learning how to drive on dirt again after so long racing V8 Supercars. You feel like you're going pretty quick, racing through the bush at 200km/h with trees flashing past on either side of you."The Safari begins a week from tomorrow, August 1, and covers 3600 kilometres from Perth to Kalgoorlie, with overnight stops in Geraldton, Mt Magnet, Leonora and Laverton.DAVID Wall continued his romp towards the Australian GT championship title when he swept two of three sports car races at Eastern Creek last weekend with his Porsche GT3 Cup S. The other star on the packed Shannons Nationals program was Mat Sofi, who broke through for his first win in Formula 3 while Tim Macrow reduced overseas raider Joey Foster's lead in the championship battle.CHAD Reed continues to lead the chase for the 450cc title in the AMA Pro Motocross championship following a 1-2 result at Millville last weekend. He is now 37 points clear on his Rockstar Suzuki with five rounds to run.NEAL Bates is looking for more speed this week from his Toyota Corolla as he prepares for the winner-take-all showdown with his former team-mate, and championship leader, Simon Evans at Rally SA next weekend. Bates knows Evans has a top-speed advantage with his Mitsubishi Lancer and has several tweaks to test in Canberra before packing for the trip to Adelaide and the last event of this year's national championship series.Off-road superstars Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki will tune up for next year's Dakar Rally by competing in the 2009 Australasian Safari with their Isuzu D-MAX ute in Western Australia. The five-time Safari winner was third last year and expects better in his latest beast thanks to engine upgrading, which he also believes will allow him to improve on his 11th overall in this year's Dakar in South America.FRENCHMAN Jamie Alguersuari will become the youngest driver to race in Formula One, at 19 years and 125 days, when he replaces Sebastian Bourdais in the Toro Rosso team at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Alguersuari is a former British Formula 3 champion who was groomed through the Red Bull young driver academy.CHRIS Atkinson is back in Monaco to try and revive his stalled career in the World Rally Championship, including a start in his home event, Repco Rally Australia, in September. His trip to Europe included a stopover in the USA to visit Ken Block, a Subaru driver who also stars in the X-Games, perhaps pointing to more American action for the speedy Australia.DANIEL Ricciardo continues to lead the race for the British Formula 3 championship despite finishing slightly off the pace in both races at Donington Park last weekend. The young Aussie was quickest in qualifying but fell back to seventh in the first race before recovering for third, but in the second heat could do no better than fifth with the Carlin Motorsport team.THE son of John Surtees, the only racer to win world championships on both two and four wheels, was killed last weekend in a Formula 2 crash in Britain. Henry Surtees had taken his first F2 podium at Brands Hatch in the first of two heats, but died after being hit in the head by a wheel from another car that crashed in the second race. 

The Queensland team's driver, Colin Hunter, said their Extreme 4WD Class V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee is suited to wet conditions and would beat a lot of the two-wheel-drive buggies if the track is wet."Our best ever result was ninth outright in 2001 which was a very wet year, but it's a big field this year and the competition is very strong, so matching last year's results will be an excellent achievement," he said."Still, the car we're running is tried and tested, so we are quite confident."Team Manager Stewart Knowles said it was cloudy yesterday, but not yet raining."But when it rains out here it really rains and the track can be three feet under water."The team will also have a tyre advantage being the first in Australia to use a new Goodyear brand with puncture-resistant sidewalls. Hunter Racing has been competing since 1998 and last year finished 20th outright in the Northern Territory and first in class.The team started its sixth title defence with 17th outright and first in class in the Hyden 450 race in Western Australia in April. The 460km Finke Desert Race is the second round of the AORC. The race starts and ends in Alice Springs with an overnight stop between the two legs at the tiny Aboriginal settlement of Aputula.Almost 600 vehicles will compete in the Southern Hemisphere's richest off-road race in cars, trucks, 4WDs and buggies, with almost 500 of them on bikes and quads. Among the outright contenders are Queenslander Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki who finished 11th in this year's Dakar Rally in South America in their Isuzu D-Max.They will be out to spoil the back-to-back hopes of 2008 King of the Desert David Fellows, of South Australia, driving a Jimco buggy."The track conditions are pretty consistent with previous years and I expect the times to Finke will be under the 1 hour 55min mark," Fellows said.In the bike category, Bathurst rider Ben Grabham has switched from Honda to KTM and will be looking for his third consecutive win.Queenslander Rod Faggotter, who finished second to Grabham in last year's Australasian Safari, is using the Finke as a preparation race for the Safari."The longer distances suit me better. The Finke is more of a two-hour sprint," said Faggotter who finished 12th outright last year."There are a lot of fast local guys here who run the track all the time, so I am up against a lot of quick guys on their home territory."At least with the rain we've had here in the past week there will be no dust so you can see where you are going."The prologue to decide starting order is held on Saturday with the two race legs on Sunday and Monday.

Power play Will Power was the best-placed Australian in the Indianapolis 500, finishing fifth for Penske as his team mate Helio Castroneves took his third victory at the Brickyard. Power was in contention for a while but faded like Ryan Briscoe, who only managed 15th after a tyre problem ten a late fuel stop for the third Penske car dropped him way back in the pack.Latvala bests Loeb CRASH-prone Jari-Matti Latvala finally ended Sebastian Loeb's winning streak in the world rally championship with victory in Sardinia last weekend. Latvala was helped when Loeb lost a minute changing a tyre then another four with a penalty, but still came home on top in his Ford Focus with his team mate Mikko Hirvonen second and Petter Solberg third in his private Citroen.Kelly joins 100 Club RICK Kelly becomes the youngest member of the '100 Club' this weekend in Tasmania when he makes his 100th V8 Supercar start with Jack Daniels Racing. Ironically, the former champion will be taking the 'youngest' title from his older brother, Todd.Castroneves wins pitstop challenge HELIO Castroneves got an early victory in Indy 500 week when he and his Penske team won the pitstop challenge. The team took just 7.962 seconds to change four tyres in the final, when they beat Marco Andretti of Andretti-Green Racing, but they needed to set a record of 7.636 seconds in the semi-final to beat their Penske team mates on Ryan Briscoe's car.Davison improves JAMES Davison was sixth in the Indy Lights curtain-raiser to the Indy 500, four places better than his starting spot for the event. "A sixth-place finish is definitely nothing to be ashamed of," Davison says.Finke practice for Dakar team BRUCE Garland and Harry Suzuki begin their build-up to the 2010 Dakar Rally next month with a start in Australia's biggest off-road event, the Finke Desert Race at Alice Springs. The Isuzu D-Max crew will be out to better their 11th place in this year's Dakar and, as one of the favourites for the Finke, intend to test new go-fast parts during the Northern Territory sprint.Martin solid in Monaco Australia's A1GP regular John Martin took a solid 12th at Monaco in his first Renault 3.5 race. The youngster is looking for more openwheel experience and took up a guest drive in one of the supporting races at the biggest F1 event of the season.FIA GT and DTM on TV THE motorsport content on the new ONE HD channel has been boosted by coverage of two classes not previously seen in Australia. The FIA GT series, for road-going sports cars, and the DTM, or German touring car championship, have just been added to the channel for their 2009 seasons.GT race joins V8 Supercar rounds GT sports cars have joined the support race program for the two biggest V8 Supercar events of 2009. The Australian GT championship will now run on the undercard at the Bathurst 1000 and the new Telstra 500 at Homebush in Sydney.