Isuzu - Pushing Further Ahead

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Diesel News Australia  /  February 2019

There seems to be no stopping the Isuzu bandwagon, as the company prepares to celebrate 30 years as the top selling brand in Australia, it just keeps pushing further ahead. Diesel News checks out the new N Series range from the Japanese truck maker.

A truck brand doesn’t end up being the dominant brand in a truck market for a period as long as 30 years without doing quite a bit right. In the case of Isuzu, the company is constantly pushing itself to keep ahead of the curve and challenges competitors to keep up.

There is also an efficient system for channeling the feedback from the truck buyer on the ground back to the decision makers specifying the next iteration of a particular model. Knowing what the customer wants and delivering it are vital if you want to stay number one. 

This introduction of a renewed N Series range of light duty models illustrates these points very well. Innovations keep Isuzu ahead of the game and adjustments have been made to satisfy customer needs.

There’s also been some consideration of the comfort of those customers with the introduction of an independent front suspension on some of the NNR models at the lighter end of the range. These are the trucks which buyers are often moving up to from cars or utes and the IFS provides the kind of ride quality which could be described as car-like. 

Another car-like feature is the introduction of two pedal operation on the NPS 4×4 models in the new range. The automated manual transmission (AMT) has been calibrated to take the grief out of gear changing in difficult conditions where four wheel drive is needed. 

As is common in just about every new truck launch these days, the audio visual entertainment system gets an upgrade, bigger, with a new operating system and many more features. With their competitors all running modern entertainment systems, Isuzu just go one step further. 

On the engine front, the power and torque available continue to creep up, but the complexity actually goes down. Improvement to the engine’s design means the 5.2 litre 4HK1 engine no longer needs a diesel particulate filter, which can be problematic during the regeneration cycle. The diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been replaced by a maintenance-free diesel oxidisation catalyst but still meets Euro-5 emission limits.

“We are always looking to develop and implement the most appropriate technology to empower Australian businesses to improve both operational efficiency and functionality,” says Phil Taylor, Director and CEO at Isuzu Australia. “We believe we are continuing to achieve that goal for our customers. Isuzu continues to have the most comprehensive truck range on the market in Australia today.”

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