According to Mazda New Zealand; “Mazda Motor Corporation and Isuzu Motors Limited have reached a basic agreement on next-generation pick-up truck collaboration, allowing Isuzu to enhance its product competiveness and Mazda to strengthen its product line-up and maintain own-brand market coverage.

Translated from ‘corporate-speak’ that means that Isuzu will do the bulk of the design and building work with Mazda getting a version it can sell as its own.

What all this means here is that the current, and only recently upgraded BT-50 will be the last based on Ford’s top-selling Ranger.

That said, the next generation Mazda ute will still be built in Thailand, just at Isuzu Motors’ manufacturing facility rather than Ford’s.

It will be by no means the first or indeed only collaboration between Mazda and Isuzu either. For more than 10 years now, Isuzu have been producing trucks for the Japanese market for Mazda. 

To read the full story in the September 2016 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (August 22) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.