What Isuzu and Tesla have in common

At first glance there doesn’t seem like there would be any similarities between Isuzu and Tesla.

One is a very old Japanese brand with a focus on utes and off-roaders, while the other is a relatively young American upstart that revolutionised the industry with its electric cars.

And yet the two hold a unique place in the Australian motoring landscape. The latest new car sales figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries shows that the pair are both firmly ensconced in the top 10 selling brands with only two models in their respective showrooms.

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Isuzu sits ahead of the likes of Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan on the sales charts, despite relying on just a pair of vehicles. Yet the D-Max ute and MU-X SUV are consistently amongst the country’s best-selling models every month and have allowed Isuzu to rise up the sales charts.

In fact, the company credits its focused range for its success, allowing it to ensure it meets customer demands.

“We continue to be very appreciative and humbled by the support our brand has received from Australians over the years,” an Isuzu spokesperson told CarsGuide. “We believe that support comes from a combination of a proven and reliable product that has built a loyal affection with Australian motorists, continual updates to the product mix to align with consumer feedback and market expectations, and our focus on customer satisfaction, which has been recognised and rewarded by the likes of Canstar Blue and Roy Morgan over the years.

“While we have just two nameplates in the market, we’ve been able to focus our efforts to market the D-Max and MU-X to our intended audience effectively and our efforts with aftersales and our wide-spread dealer network of over 150 sites helps maintain that high-level of  customer satisfaction.”

The D-Max is the third best performer in the ute market, behind only the runaway Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, selling 8372 examples in the first four months of the year thanks to strong D-Max 4x2 sales (1495).

Isuzu sits ahead of the likes of Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan on the sales charts.

Overall, the D-Max is comfortably out-performing the Mazda BT-50 (5257), Mitsubishi Triton (5143) and Nissan Navara (2487).

While the ute market is competitive, the large SUV segment is even more hard-fought with more than 20 rivals to compete against the MU-X. Despite this, it is the best-selling model in its segment, with 4893 sales so far in 2023, putting it ahead of the likes of the Toyota Prado, Ford Everest, Kia Sorento and Subaru Outback.

There are no plans to expand the Isuzu range in the short-term, but that doesn’t seem to matter. The combined sales of both models adds up to 13,265, which means Isuzu is only approximately 800 sales short of leap-frogging both Subaru and Tesla to be the eighth best-selling brand in the country.

Isuzu is proof that sometimes a ‘less is more’ approach can be successful.