It is always interesting when a niche-specific vehicle targets another market and often it ends badly. This time it’s Isuzu’s D-Max that’s moving to the lifestyle market from being just a fleet-friendly tool.
If you follow us you know when it comes to this brand, we only talk about the D-Max as it’s the only vehicle from the company that is sold in the UK after the Trooper SUV paved the way for it in 2002. Isuzu is known for offering commercial and public service vehicles to the customers and this is what its majority of vehicles are about. This is one of the reasons why this vehicle is not as popular in the consumer market as some of the other vehicles. Compared to other vehicles like Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, Isuzu sold a significantly less amount of this vehicle in the UK last year with just over 3100 units sold.
This is not a good situation for this model, not for the company itself but this can change with their new efforts. The vehicle has entered the third generation and this time it’s a different prospect. It has just arrived in UK dealerships and we got to drive it to check how good it is. The vehicle was launched in south-east Asia in 2019 where it showed a great performance and outsell the Hilux in Thailand. This is quite amazing and you would expect it to do well in the UK market too.
The previous version of the vehicle was just like another 4×4 load-hauler; rough and tough but this vehicle is different. The previous version had a plastic interior, a slow infotainment system as well as an agricultural powertrain. It had a towing capacity of 3400kg and it offered a good-value kit list, so these were some good features of this vehicle.
But this version is a different model and you can tell that the company wants you to consider it from a different perspective. It’s smarter, safer, and stronger. The vehicle has been on sale for just one month in the UK and it’s already sold out. So if you want to buy this vehicle and place an order today, you will get the vehicle by the end of the year. We don’t think we need to explain why it sold out; the vehicle is as good as they get.