Yesterday we attended a virtual media briefing from Isuzu regarding its latest sales, development, and some of its updated products.
I was keen on hearing more about the localization of the new Isuzu D-MAX which will be produced at Isuzu’s plant in Port Elizabeth plant. Isuzu says it’s currently going through testing so it works perfectly in African conditions. Some of the key areas being tested are the testing on the load box, load box front panel, and tailgate. Other areas receiving attention from local engineers include, dust sealing, suspension tuning and development of local dampers, development of all-terrain tyres, rear differential lock and axles, wiring harnesses, and accessories such as canopies, roll bars and nudge bars.
Dominic Rimmer, Isuzu SA’s senior-vice president of technical operations says “This next generation D-MAX is a significant step forward for Isuzu in all respects. It offers state of the art technology to enhance the driving experience, efficiency and safety. As you know we have very high expectations for the D-MAX here in South Africa so a significant amount of work has to be done to ensure that we deliver a vehicle which is capable of coping with our challenging environment and customer demands.”
The D-MAX is currently receiving a lot of praise in other markets in terms of its latest technology, drivability, on and off-road capabilities. Because of the current pandemic, Isuzu plans to launch it locally in 2022.
