It has been 17 years since there was a genuine model change, but as Tim Giles reports, 2025 will see a new, built from the ground up, Isuzu range coming to the Australian truck market as the long time market leader catches up with the latest technology.
It has to be admitted that 17 years is a long time between drinks, but during that period Isuzu has not only led the Australian truck market every year, but has further entrenched its number one position.
Isuzu has gained even more market share in the light and medium truck sectors and retained its position in the heavy duty market despite having no viable heavy duty prime mover in play for a lot of that period.
Plenty of new technology has come along in the intervening years, and much of that technology has found its way into the Isuzu range in some form. However, the trucks going on sale in 2025 include all of the new technology as an integral part of the initial design. The engines are also designed and built to comply with the latest exhaust gas emissions regulations.
This launch is not about the path to zero carbon for the brand. These are the pragmatic trucks which the trucking industry will still be dependent on for well over a decade, and which will handle the transport task until the next generation of zero carbon trucks fully emerge in each market sector.
According to Isuzu, the launch of its 2025 models will be the biggest model change the brand has ever been through. The step up to Euro 6 is a significant one for the engine makers, but seeing as this is the fourth exhaust emission regulations change in the last 20 years, the truck manufacturers have fine tuned their emission reduction technologies to the point where they are effective and familiar.
At the same time, it has been 17 years since a proper model change for the brand. It’s a good time to actually start again from the ground up, and look at every single aspect of the chassis, driveline, cabin and electronic architecture.
The Australian truck market will see a complete change in the look and feel of the N Series, F Series, FX and FY truck models. For now, the same can’t be said for the heaviest model, replacing the Giga, which was phased out several years ago. This new set of models is already well embedded in the Japanese market, but of course, the versions which will be arriving on our shores for the launch of these models in 2025 have been configured for the Australian market.
This has been one of the strengths of the Isuzu brand, and one of the reasons it has maintained its number one status for well over 30 years.
It is the ability to take what is being made in Japan and rethink it, using the existing componentry available, and developing something Australia-specific where it is needed, to bring something to market which suits the Australian trucking industry in a more precise way than product which would have been directly imported from a overseas truck market.
On this occasion, there have to be new engines, because the move to Euro 6 does mean the inclusion of more technologies.
However, at this point Isuzu is not stressing details about their engine technology and the power and torque outputs, or transmission options, but is instead concentrating on other aspects of this design. One big talking point is the new cabins, which are to be fitted out with all of the latest safety gear.
Up until now Isuzu has been bringing in a mix and match of different safety system technologies from different suppliers and using them to meet the requirements of the truck buying market.
This time around, this is a more integrated system coming out of the Isuzu stable, which encompasses all of the safety systems required now, with room for development into other areas of safety and higher levels of technology into the future.
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