Farms & Farm Machinery #383

UTE PREVIEW
WHAT’S YOUR
next ute?
Holden’s withdrawal
from Australian throws a
new twist in what is an
ever-evolving ute market
as new products loom
for 2020, writes Fraser
Stronach
Above: The Holden Colorado z71 crew cab is
now no longer in production
Opposite: The 2020 Isuzu D-Max Hi-lander 4
door
The two best-selling new
‘cars’ in Australia are
actually both utes,
namely Toyota’s Hilux
and Ford’s Ranger.
Just in case you hadn’t noticed, America’s General Motors
is closing down Holden in Australia. That means no more
Colorado ute, currently Holden’s best-selling model. In what is a
very strong ute market, where the Colorado is the fourth bestselling
ute, its demise will no doubt help others.
Mercedes-Benz has also announced that it’s withdrawing its
X-Class ute, but the small number of sales involved here isn’t
going to have a wider effect on the market.
The two best-selling new ‘cars’ in Australia are actually both
utes, namely Toyota’s Hilux and Ford’s Ranger, and while they
fight it out for top spot Mitsubishi’s Triton sits in at third spot off
the back of sharp pricing. The only way to buy a less-expensive
ute than the Triton is to buy Korean, Indian or Chinese.
ISUZU D-MAX
Meanwhile, the quiet achiever over the last couple of years
has been Isuzu’s D-Max, which has overtaken Nissan Navara in
ute sales to be the fifth best seller – and closing fast – behind
Holden’s Colorado.
And soon potential Holden buyers will have look elsewhere and
could well head to Isuzu given the previous tie-up between the
Holden and Isuzu. What was sold here for a very long time as a
Holden Rodeo was in fact 99 per cent an Isuzu ute, as was the
first-gene ation Colorado. That may see the D-Max challenge for
third spot in the sales race.
Certainly Isuzu will be the first cab off the ank in terms of a
new ute for the Australian market, sometime around mid-2020.
This new D-Max has already been revealed in Thailand last year
and unlike the current D-Max is not a result of a joint venture
with General Motors. This new D-Max is in fact an Isuzu from
the ground up, which is the way that Isuzu has historically gone
about designing its own utes.
The 2020 D-Max is bigger overall than the current model, no
doubt to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with the big utes like
the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok. The 2020 D-Max also
will be better equipped and seemingly more passenger-car like
in presentation and detail compared to the more commercially
flavou ed current model. At the same time more wading depth
and standard rear locker suggest more 4WD ability.
Significantl , the 2020 D-max will be powered by a slightly
tuned-up (140kW/450Nm vs. 130kW/430Nm) version of longserving
and well-regarded 3.0-litre four-cylinder diesel currently
used, presumably backed by the current six-speed Aisin
automatic and six-speed Isuzu manual gearboxes.
While a smaller (1.9-litre) and more sophisticated (bi-turbo and
Euro 6 emissions-standard compliant) four-cylinder diesel is
offered elsewhere, it’s unlikely that engine will come to Australia
until Euro 6 does, and that’s still on Canberra’s backburner. If
and when Euro 6 comes into play, Isuzu may still prefer to fit
selective catalytic reduction technology (AdBlue) to the ‘big’
3.0-litre four rather than adopt the ‘little’ 1.9, given local market
preferences. We will see.
New features on the 2020 D-Max run to electric power steering,
tilt-and-reach steering wheel adjustment, auto headlights and
wipers, and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. Rear cross-traffic alert
and blindspot warning also become standard features rather
than retrofit factory accessorie . The Thai reveal of the 2020
D-Max didn’t mention automatic emergency braking but that
could well make it onto Australian models.
MAZDA BT-50
While Mazda isn’t giving anything away there’s also a new BT-50
ute – with ties to the 2020 D-Max – reportedly in the pipeline and
will appear in late 2020. If so, this is a swapping of partners for
Mazda and Isuzu, given Mazda worked with Ford, and Isuzu with
General Motors in the design and development of the current
generation utes.
The fact that Isuzu has already revealed its new D-Max while
Mazda remains light-lipped suggests that, if these two new
utes are indeed a co-operative effort, then Isuzu has taken the
lead in this project. Isuzu being the senior partner would also
make sense given Isuzu’s main game is utes (and trucks) where
Mazda’s main game is passenger cars and SUVs.
Assuming that Mazda does have a new ute in the pipeline and
there’s a tie up with Isuzu, there are a few possibilities. Mazda
could just stick its badge on a D-Max, or do a re-skin (new body
panels), or perhaps do all that and add its own powertrain.
Mazda’s CX-8 SUV has a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel that
claims 140kW and 450Nm, which matches the new D-Max’s
power and torque numbers.
40 TradeFarmMachinery.com.au THE TRACTOR YOU WANT IS NOW EASIER TO FIND