Isuzu D-Max News

The special-edition Isuzu D-Max ‘Blade’ has been revealed ahead of the ute's official pricing and spec announcement this Friday.

Isuzu has detailed a mild-hybrid version of its popular D-Max ute but it’s only for Thailand, at least for now. 

Isuzu has released its first teaser for the upcoming D-Max Blade, a locally prepared ute tuned by Australian outfit Walkinshaw known for making fast Holdens.

Mazda’s rugged BT-50 isn’t going to be a victim of the federal government’s new emissions regulations. Mazda Australia’s marketing boss Alastair Doak said the BT-50 will absolutely be part of the company’s future despite the spectre of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) looming over the industry.

Isuzu has issued a massive safety recall for about 150,000 vehicles in Australia.

The Toyota RAV4 was Australia’s favourite vehicle last month, overtaking the incumbent utes and notching up 5933 sales. The Ford Ranger (4915) and Toyota HiLux (4747) trailed Australia’s favourite SUV, with Toyota once again taking overall honours. Mazda managed to keep its head above Ford with both maintaining a solid gap back to fourth-placed Kia. It was another record-breaking July with 99,486 registrations recorded enough to beat last year’s result by 2.7 per cent. Year-to-date, sales are at 731,898 — up 7.9 per cent on last year’s record numbers.“This is a remarkable achievement in an economy featuring widespread cost of living pressures,” noted Federal Chamber of Automobile Industries (FCAI) head Tony Weber. “It was also interesting to note that while sales in the Business and Government segments were up 13.7 per cent and 37.5 per cent respectively, Private sales were down 4.2 per cent,” added Weber. Hybrid sales were also buoyant up 88.4 per cent on last year with plug-in hybrid sales up 128.9 per cent. The share of electric cars fell slightly to 6.6 per cent. “While the first seven months of 2024 have exceeded expectations, the industry remains cautious about the future pending the implementation of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard coupled with the economic conditions,” cautioned Weber.Toyota is riding the popularity of hybrid vehicles keeping its head in first place with 22,705 sales last month and climbing back to an impressive 22.8 per cent market share.The battle between Ford (57,371) and Mazda (57,023) is nail-bitingly close, the former having a slower July (7749 vs 8476) but managing to hold second place year-to-date by a slim 348 car margin. Kia remains in a strong fourth followed by Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Isuzu, MG, Nissan and Subaru.As for models, the Corolla hatch and sedan had an extremely strong sales month with 2688 registrations with its sparring partner, the Hyundai i30 (663), nowhere to be seen as the company waits for the updated hatch to arrive (though with Kia Cerato sales up significantly to 1592). Then came the Isuzu D-Max ute, Ford Everest large SUV, the Mitsubishi Outlander and Mazda CX-5 mid-size SUVs and the MG ZS small SUV. The Toyota Kluger rounded out the top 10, beating the LandCruiser to the punch. Tesla’s sales were weaker in July with just 1353 Model Y and 1239 Model 3 registrations not enough to see either model climb into the overall top 10. By state and territory, the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia all improved their positions while the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria had small sips (less than two per cent). Sales in Tasmania were down 12 per cent.

Competition amongst Australia’s top-selling vehicles is heating up, with the second special edition ute announced in just a week. 

After the likes of the Amarok W580, the HSV Colorado SportsCat and various ongoing American ute conversions, Walkinshaw Automotive Group is now turning its attention to the Isuzu D-Max.

interested in Australia's most popular new vehicles? Here is a list ranking sales from from 1-100 between January 1 and June 30, 2024.

Reports of Isuzu's departure from Australia appear to have been wide of the mark, with the brand not just vowing to stay in market on NVES is introduced, but forecasting a long future for its diesel engines here, too.