The latest in the battle of pickup trucking

| Friday May 3, 2013 00:00

But when you really think about it, you quickly realise that it is actually quite ingenious of them to make such a move.This is because the resort is placed well out of the city's constraints and therefore any mistake that an over enthusiastic tester makes will be well contained and not much of a spectacle to be seen by the general public; I mean it's always an embarrassing thing to be showcasing a brand new product and then have someone fluff about with it, makes you look like your product is not up to par (and Isuzu's are way above any given par by the way). There is also the very important element of feeding and giving off presents.

Let's face it; these are difficult times and GM as any other establishment is not in the habit of being spendthrifts and sending invitations and being as exclusive as you can is a sure way of insuring that you work well within your budget.So no waltzing Tom and Dick is going to pop in and spoil the party and still make the host look like he is unorganised. But those are raving thoughts; GM couldn't have possibly dreamt of such atrocities, they are polished and well rounded people who know their game very well. The reason could be found in the products themselves.

And what products those are! Technology really has come of age. The way things are progressing is both alarming and reassuring at the same time. The new Isuzu will make a complete novice seem like an off-road driving god, a kind of Houdini who simply pulverises any jungle, sort of like a modern day Tarzan. Such is the beauty of technology that very soon driving instructors will be out of jobs because cars are getting ridiculously good at doing what used to be the stuff of heroes not so long ago, because for goodness sake they can even park themselves and even brake themselves to avoid a total cock-up collision! That is alarming very very much. But most people are busy with Facebook these days and they want to be busy updating their statuses while driving up a near vertical cliff all at the same time and trust me, with the new Isuzu that is something entirely possible when you buy one that is tweaked and specified correctly, of course. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here, let's put things into perspective and take a breather because we are not on Facebook. GM makes Isuzu leisure and workhorse pickups and it has launched a new one. It comes at a time when most people think they know their rights and lefts, when people simply think that they can make informed choices and look clever in the process.

When you ask someone which pickup truck they like, they will rant off the usual suspects; Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, Volkswagen Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton, Ford Ranger and Mazda BT 50 and it doesn't take a genius to know which is which; well it used not to take a genius because you still get people asking if the Amarok is made by Navara. So the new Isuzu comes into an arena that is busting at the seams with talent and intent. Let's face it; the game has moved on considerately since Isuzu last launched an all new offering. All its competitors above save for the Hilux and the Navara, have released new trucks while the two giants have only had a few nips and tucks done to them in an attempt to give them a new lease in life.

So if the Isuzu is to make headway in such a heady band of contenders, it needs to have a trick or two hidden under its very handsome metal skin because looks alone are no longer a seller, I mean which of the big pickups would you confidently say is butt ugly? In fact if you squinted hard enough you might start to think they are brothers from another mother somehow. It stands well above two metres which is head and shoulders with the massive Ford Ranger and could hold conference with the wide hipped Navara and have a manly pat in the back with the king of the hill Hilux. So on macho looks alone, the Isuzu looks as big as the rest of the rugby players. In certain specs it weighs in well over 3,000kg and a gross combined mass of 6,000kg, so no puny soprano either. People who lust after such vehicles will not even waste time but want to know of the engines on offer and they will be delighted to know that their beasts have beastly hearts ranging from a 4x2 KB 240 LE petrol to a gusty KB 300 D-TEQ LX and all being 4-clyinders and 16 valves, torque being the last word here, naturally.

The thing that sets Isuzus from all other players is the fact that they know diesel technology better than other competitors, they are simply superior and 3/4 of all Isuzus leaving the show room are diesels. Chatting to Isuzu Brand Manager GM South Africa Mlungisi Nonkonyana he cited the above mentioned as their direct competitors, calling the Hilux 'the market leader' and continuing to say that we have been taking Toyota head-on with our previous vehicle and we are back to taking the fight to them and at the end of the day customers will decide. Isuzu is absolutely a household name, not only in Botswana but the southern African region and we have built up a reputation of being a comfortable yet off-road capable no-nonsense rugged go anywhere tough bakkie, so our reputation speaks for itself.

It has a dual personality to it; a leisure element and a commercial element to it too. It's balanced in that they are used for working. No person is gonna go buy a single cab just to drive to work every day, you use that for loading, plumber to a miner, whereas a double cab is more leisure oriented, mostly family use'

Badeti Tibone, Managing Director of Motor Holdings says 'this is a momentous occasion as we bring to market the 6th generation Isuzu, meaning we have been through six cycles or phases of development of this vehicle and as you know Isuzu is far rooted in Botswana and it is back in its current form globally; what you see here is what you see in Australia and Thailand markets that are bigger than our markets.

We all know the Hilux dominates this segment, however, one thing that we are proud of and confident about is that we give them a run for their money and I'll like to say watch this space because it is said in Botswana that this is Toyota country, no, Botswana is ALSO Isuzu country. We know month-on-month, we know what each franchise is selling and we accept that yes, Toyota is dominating but we know that they are not indomitable and there are months we give them a run for their money. Our vehicles are affordable yet of a 1st class status and will stand the test of time.

We wouldn't be here today; the audience wouldn't be here today if they didn't have confidence in our products.' This is talk of a man who stands behind his products and knows them with an intimacy reserved for certain rooms, and judging by the off-road driving impression we got, he has every reason to be smug.

Talking about off-road, a drive into the bushes, mud, inclines that a mountain goat would struggle going up and even a river bed full of sand was an eye opener and a revelation as to how much of a brute this new vehicle is. 

A particularly nice feature is the low range transfer button both on the dash beneath the steering rack and a knob on next to the hand brake that when engaged, the Isuzu will 'crawl' up very steep inclines WITHOUT the driver stepping on any of the foot operated pedals (clutch, brake or accelerator) and descend down the hill still with only steering inputs being the requirements from the driver, very impressive stuff and likely to be a firm favourite with those that want to show off to their Facebook acquired girlfriends, only pity is that most people never take these cars off the beaten path to their true calling of the wild because this is a good vehicle that deserves to succeed.