Isuzu Ute Australia is doing a lot with a little, managing to be a top-10 player with just two models in its stable and holding off much bigger players like Nissan and Volkswagen in sales to the end of October this year.
Isuzu believes that battery-swapping stations could be the key to mass-market electric vehicle (EV) adoption, especially for light trucks that need to minimise downtime and maximise hours on the road.
Isuzu Trucks is not concerned about being a latecomer to the electric truck game as rivals from Hyundai, Fuso and Iveco quickly move into the EV space. Speaking to CarsGuide, Isuzu Motors Limited Vice-President of Corporate Strategy Division, Konstantin Kriegelsteiner said the Japanese truck brand does not want to move too quickly into the electric era if it cannot maintain its dependable reputation.“One of the strong points of the Isuzu brand is reliability, so I think that’s something we really don’t want to risk,” he said.
Isuzu's incoming electric D-Max pick-up will borrow heavily from the N Series truck EV, but the Japanese brand still believes the tailpipe emissions-free ute will have limited uses.
Isuzu will still offer diesel powertrains for models like D-Max, MU-X and the N Series light truck, at least in the medium term, as it believes the oil-burning powertrain still has a place in a quickly electrifying world.