Isuzu UTE on a roll

In 2021, Isuzu UTE Australia (IUA), with just two vehicles to in the market, the D-MAX one-tonne Ute and the MU-X 7-seat SUV, delivered an all-time record number of vehicles, chalking up 35,735 new vehicle sales in 2021.

This eclipses the company’s previous annual record of 27,640 vehicles sold in 2018, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry (FCAI). Compared with the previous year's results, IUA grew by 61.6 per cent – a result helped by the successful introduction of the new-generation vehicles in August and the surging popularity of the D-MAX.

Throughout 2021, IUA charted as a top-ten selling brand across six out of twelve months and accounting for 3.4 per cent of all new vehicles sold.

"Rounding out the year in 11th overall was quite an accomplishment for our young brand of two vehicles; a result only made possible thanks to our loyal Customers, whom have been patient and understanding as we meet the unprecedented levels of demand," said Isuzu UTE Australia Managing Director, Hiroyasu Sato.

By the end of December 2021, an accumulative total of 169,607 D-MAX Utes and 61,370 MU-X SUVs had been delivered in Australia.

According to that same annual report, both SUVs and Utes have continued to top the shopping lists of Australian new car buyers – with the two segments responsible for over 71.8 per cent of new vehicles sold within 2021.

One-in-five new vehicles sold in 2021 was a Ute; accounting for 21.2 per cent of the market. Reflective of the popularity of these light commercial vehicles, a total of 25,117 new Isuzu D-MAX Utes were sold throughout the calendar year representing a 12.4 per cent share of the one-tonne ute LCV segment.

In comparison to the previous year, the 25,117 D-MAX models sold equated to a growth of 66.8 per cent over the 2020 sales results – over four and a half times the overall new car market's growth of 14.5 per cent.

Dissecting the segment further reveals that the D-MAX was yet again the second-best-selling 4x2 ute in Australia with 6478 examples sold, outselling the Ford Ranger 4x2 by 2185 vehicles.

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Overall, the D-MAX with 25,117 models sold was Australia's third-best-selling ute in 2021, ahead of the Mitsubishi Triton (19,232), Nissan Navara (15,113), Mazda BT-50 (15,662) and Volkswagen Amarok (7659).

“The D-MAX has earned its place as one of Australia's top-selling vehicles of the year, and we couldn't be more grateful to the twenty-five-thousand customers that chose a D-MAX in 2021. With the 2022 D-MAX range now available, we look forward to welcoming more Ute buyers to the Isuzu family in 2022,” said Isuzu UTE Australia Director of Sales and Marketing, Koichiro Yoshida.

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