The all-new Mazda BT-50 unveiled in less than two days?! Yes, that’s right, and looking at this teaser image on the Mazda website it seems as though the new ute, co-developed with fellow Japanese ute manufacturer Isuzu, will have a fair dose of Mazda DNA… at least in the styling department.
The Mazda Australia website leads with the above teaser image of the new BT-50 with the announcement “Something huge is coming”, along with a countdown to the worldwide unveiling of the new ute.
Whereas the previous-generation BT-50 was built on the same platform as the Ford Ranger, this new model will be built on the same platform as the new Isuzu D-Max pictured below (revealed late last year and likely on sale in Australia by September of this year). While it may seem unusual that Mazda has ended its long relationship with Ford when it comes to the co-development of utes, there are plenty more strange bedfellows in the automotive world, with the next-gen Ford Ranger set to be the basis for the next-gen Volkswagen Amarok, while the next-gen Nissan Navara will essentially be a rebadged Mitsubishi Triton… but I digress.
Despite the BT-50 sharing the same chassis as the new D-Max, and likely the same 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, and manual and auto transmission options, it’s clear that Mazda has invested heavily in giving its version of the ute a unique appearance, at least around the front-end, with Mazda stylists working on the grille, lights and front guards. There will no doubt also be differences around the rear of the vehicle although, as is the case with many shared platforms, the two utes are likely to look much the same around the cabin area, with a shared roofline and door apetures.
With the Mazda BT-50 unveiled in less than two days, we can’t wait to see what the other platform-shared utes will look like. In the meantime, keep an eye out on the Unsealed 4X4 website and Facebook page and we’ll bring you all the info on the new Mazda BT-50 as soon as we can.
