Mazda and Isuzu have reached a “basic agreement” to collaborate on the development and production of their respective next-generation bakkies.
The pair of Japanese automakers made the announcement in a joint statement on Monday.
According to the statement, the link-up will “allow Isuzu to enhance its product competitiveness” and see Mazda “strengthen its product line-up and maintain own-brand market coverage”.
The two automakers do, of course, already have a fairly long-standing relationship, with Isuzu producing Mazda trucks for the Japanese market for the past ten years.
But the new deal covers what is described as a “worldwide sales area” (with the exception of North America).
The latest agreement will see Isuzu produce the next-generation BT-50 for Mazda, basing it on Isuzu’s next-generation D-Max (or what we know in South Africa as the KB).
The start of sales of the new models has yet to be determined.
Of course, the current BT-50 shares much with the Ford Ranger, and is due a facelift in the very near future.
