Isuzu Ute posts sales record, third consecutive Top 10 finish with only two models
01/13/2025 05:00 PM
For the third year in a row, Isuzu Ute has finished among Australia's Top 10 best-selling car brands – and published record deliveries – despite offering only the D-Max ute and its MU-X SUV spin-off.
Isuzu Ute has claimed its third consecutive annual Top 10 sales result – and highest deliveries on record – spearheaded by its popular D-Max, which was Australia's third-favourite ute after the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.
The Japanese brand’s annual sales of 48,172 was made up of just two models – the D-Max’s 30,194 deliveries, enough to make it the fourth best-selling vehicle in Australia, and its SUV spin-off, the MU-X SUV.
It finished eighth in 2024, up from ninth in 2023 – when it set its previous annual record of 45,341 deliveries, one it surpassed by 6.2 per cent last year – and 10th in 2022.
Proving it is not all down to the vehicle itself, Isuzu’s ute more than tripled sales of the Mazda BT-50 (15,164), which is a restyled version of the Isuzu, complete with the same engines and ladder-frame chassis construction.
Splitting sales into 4×2 and 4×4, the D-Max 4×2 outsold the Ford Ranger 4×2, posting a 7 per cent increase with 6163 sales to take a 23.9 per cent share of 4×2 ute sales, finishing second only to the Toyota HiLux 4×2.
In the 4×4 battle, the Ranger and HiLux reigned supreme by a hefty margin – reporting 57,960 and 45,839 sales respectively – with the former going on to top the overall new-vehicle sales charts with 4×4 and 4×2 sales combined.
Yet the D-Max's third place in the 4×4 ute sales category – with 24,031 deliveries – is almost 10,000 vehicle clear of its closest competitor, the Mitsubishi Triton (14,737).
The Mazda BT-50 (12,161) and Toyota LandCruiser ute (11,929) are the only other two vehicles to report more than 10,000 sales in the 4×4 segment.
The MU-X SUV reported record sales in 2024 with 17,978 deliveries – a significant 27.2 per cent year-on-year increase – almost repeating the 28.7 per cent growth posted in 2023.
It makes the last 24 months a significant period of growth for the MU-X, with sales rising from 10,987 in 2022 to its new record of nearly 18,000.
That was enough for it to climb from fourth in the large SUV sales class in 2023 to second in 2024 – behind the Ranger-based Ford Everest – although the Everest has extended its sales advantage to more than 10,000 vehicles (26,494).
The MU-X may have been helped by the new Toyota LandCruiser Prado not arriving in local showrooms until November 2024, when it was the third-most popular vehicle for the month.
Toyota Australia took more than 17,000 pre-orders between for the new Prado between August and November, and is on course for strong sales in 2025.
Isuzu's result with only two models mirrors the success at Ford Australia which – after selling more than 100,000 vehicles for the first time in 16 years – saw its best-selling Ranger and Everest account for 88.9 per cent of the brand’s sales.
Yet the Japanese brand does not have a fully-stocked line-up like Toyota – which no rival in Australia can boast – while even Ford is assisted by its slow-selling and just-discontinued Puma and Escape petrol SUVs, Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, Mustang sports car and Transit commercial line-up.
A narrower focus can be advantageous – as launching more models comes with regulatory, logistical and marketing costs, among others – yet also means foot traffic may be lighter in showrooms given the narrower offering.
Yet Isuzu's results – outselling brands such as Nissan, Subaru and VW in one of the world's most competitive new car markets – show the current product line is punching somewhat above its weight.
The MU-X is due to be updated for Australian showrooms in 2025 – alongside the Mazda BT-50, after a facelift for the D-Max in 2024 – but will also face a raft of new or updated competitors.
The first of those is the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute, which has just arrived in Australia and will compete head-to-head with the Ranger PHEV due mid-year.
The highly-anticipated diesel Kia Tasman ute is also scheduled to arrive mid-year, with the new LDV Terron 9 – and a potential MG-badged version – expected in showrooms in 2025.
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