Isuzu ‘open’ for made-in-South Africa MU-X but only if numbers agree

Although based on the same platform as the D-Max, the MU-X originates from Thailand. Picture: Isuzu

Isuzu Motors South Africa has opened the door to producing the MU-X at its Struandale plant in the Eastern Cape, but only if the right numbers are achieved to make it financially viable.

While based on the same body-on-frame platform as the D-Max bakkie assembled at the plant located in the city previously known as Port Elizabeth, the MU-X comes to South Africa via Isuzu’s Samut Prakan facility in Thailand, which also makes the D-Max for Australia.

Never produced locally, unlike the Toyota Fortuner and the previous generation Ford Everest, the prospects of the MU-X being made in Nelson Mandela Bay have inched closer to reality, but without a significant caveat in place.

“In this day-and-age, nothing is off the table,” Isuzu Motors South Africa’s Vice-President of Sales, Craig Uren, told The Citizen at the brand’s Mobility Experience event at Red Star Raceway outside Delmas this past Monday (9 November) when asked about the MU-X becoming a local market production reality.

“We want to localise as much as possible, and part of that principle of making sure we localise makes sense is if we can get the correct critical mass right”.

Uren further added, “We got to build some capacity – it is all about economies of scale. You have seen we are building the volumes with MU-X… there is a minimum threshold we need to get to, to be able to convert that to local [production].

“So, we are planning in that direction to get to that critical mass, and then we will look to [producing it locally] at some point in time”.

Back in 2020, former Isuzu’s Corporate Affairs, Business Strategy and Legal Executive Head, Denise van Huyssteen, said little sense prevails for local MU-X production based on its small sales volume.

“Based on current volume projections, we do not have plans to produce the Isuzu MU-X in South Africa, “she told The Citizen at the time.

Revealed in its current facelift guise in Thailand two years ago, the MU-X has been the country’s third best-selling body-on-frame seven-seat SUV behind the Fortuner and Everest, in addition to being significantly far ahead of the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Mahindra Scorpio-N.

On sale locally in its updated guise since May last year, current MU-X sales for the first 10 months of the year stand at 1 256 units versus the Everest’s 2 732 and the segment-leading Fortuner’s 7 339.

The recipient of a second mid-term update in August, which involved the revised 1.9-litre turbodiesel engine from the facelift D-Max and a more affordable four-wheel drive variant, the MU-X range spans six variants with the following price tags:

As with the D-Max, the MU-X, for the time being, will soldier on with the mentioned engine options while the new 2.2-litre MaxForce unit undergoes testing for its market release at an unconfirmed time.

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