Melbourne, Australia - Following last week's teaser image, which didn't reveal much, Mazda is giving us a closer look at its new-generation BT-50 ahead of its official reveal, which is set to take place on Wednesday, June 17.
The new teaser shows us that although the new Mazda bakkie will be based on the Isuzu D-Max, it will at least have a distinctive front end design inspired by Mazda's own design language.
The new Mazda BT-50 will be built by Isuzu and will share its mechanicals with its Japanese sibling, which means power will inevitably come from Isuzu's recently upgraded 3-litre turbodiesel unit with 140kW and 450Nm.
But why is the new Mazda BT-50 based on an Isuzu? The current BT-50 shares its platform with the Ford Ranger through the previous ties between the two companies, but after that all fell apart Mazda had to seek a new bakkie partner and the volumes just didn't justify going it alone.
As previously reported, the new Isuzu D-Max is set to be built in South Africa, which technically opens the door for the local operation to also build the BT-50 for Mazda, although nothing in that regard has been mentioned as yet. But it is common for SA car manufacturers to build bakkies for the European market to take advantage of the current trade deal between the two regions, so don’t rule it out.
Interestingly Ford recently announced that it will be building the new Ranger-based Volkswagen Amarok in South Africa, thanks to a new partnership between the two companies.
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