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By Charl Bosch

Motoring Journalist


How new Mazda BT-50 stacks up against Ranger, Hilux and others

All-new left-field offering ready to take on South Africa's cut-throat bakkie market.


The long awaited reveal and pricing of the all-new Mazda BT-50 this past Wednesday brought an end to an extensive waiting period for Hiroshima’s now very much left-field bakkie offering. But is its chances in a market dominated by the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger?

Relegated to a small time player along with the Mitsubishi Triton with monthly sales often struggling to exceed 50 units, the first Mazda bakkie not to spawn a Ford derivative since the original B-Series bowed in 1961 debuts as a double cab model only. Its underpinnings are the same as that of the Isuzu D-Max South Africa will be getting next year.

ALSO READ: Finally here: Long awaited, all-new Mazda BT-50 priced

Unlike the D-Max though, which will be built locally at Isuzu’s Port Elizabeth Plant, the Mazda BT-50 will remain a captive import sourced from Thailand with the line-up comprising four models powered by a choice of two Isuzu-made turbodiesel engines.

With pricing from R611 900, here is how the Mazda BT-50 stacks up against its similarly priced rival from Toyota, Ford, Isuzu, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mitsubishi and GWM.

Drivetrain

As mentioned, the Mazda BT-50 swaps its predecessor’s 2.2 and 3.2-litre Ford Puma engines for Isuzu’s 1.9-litre RZ4-TE that produces 110kW/350Nm and the 3.0-litre 4JJ3-TCX rated at 140kW/450Nm.

Two transmissions are offered; a six-speed manual only on the 1.9 and a six-speed automatic that serves as option but which is standard fare on the 3.0-litre.

Rivals to the Mazda BT-50 include:

Toyota Hilux

Toyota Hilux
Bakkie segment leading Toyota Hilux
EnginePowerTorqueTransmission
2.4 GD-6110 kW400 Nmsix-speed manual
six-speed automatic
2.8 GD-6150 kW500 Nmsix-speed automatic

Ford Ranger

EnginePowerTorqueTransmission
2.2 TDCi118 kW385 Nmsix-speed manual
six-speed automatic
3.2 TDCi147 kW470 Nmsix-speed automatic
2.0 SiT132 kW420 Nmten-speed automatic
2.0 BiT157 kW500 Nmten-speed automatic

GMW P-Series

GWM P-Series
The wave-making GWM P-Series
EnginePowerTorqueTransmission
2.0120 kW400 Nmsix-speed manual eight-speed automatic

Isuzu D-Max

Isuzu D-Max
Despite sales reaming strong, the Isuzu D-Max is now resoundingly outdated.
EnginePowerTorqueTransmission
2.5 D-TEQ100 kW320 Nmfive-speed manual
five-speed automatic
3.0 D-TEQ130 kW380 Nmsix-speed manual
six-speed automatic

Mitsubishi Triton

Mitsubishi Triton
The Mitsubishi Triton is seen as a sales underachiever in spite of being one of the cheapest on the market.
EnginePowerTorqueTransmission
2.4 DI-D133 kW430 Nmsix-speed manual
six-speed automatic

Nissan Navara

EnginePowerTorqueTransmission
2.5 dCi120 kW
140 kW
403 Nm
450 Nm
six-speed manual
seven-speed automatic

Volkswagen Amarok

Volkswagen Amarok
The aging Volkswagen Amarok officially South Africa’s most expensive bakkie.
EnginePowerTorqueTransmission
2.0 BiTDI132 kW420 Nmeight-speed Tiptronic
3.0 TDI190 kW580 Nmeight-speed Tiptronic

Pricing

Aimed at the upper-end of the market, the Mazda BT-50 line-up kicks-off at R611 900 as mentioned for the entry-level 1.9 Active and ends at R794 400 for the range-topping 3.0 Individual 4×4 AT.

Excluding the workhorse-spec XL and the off-road focused Raptor, the Ford Ranger range starts at R531 700 for the 2.2 XLS and tops-out at R797 500 for the 2.0 BiT Wildtrak 4×4, while comparative Toyota Hilux pricing kicks-off at R520 500 for the 2.4 GD-6 Raider and ends at R861 600 for the 2.8 GD-6 Legend RS 4×4 AT.

Ford Ranger
Soon-to-be-outgoing Ford Ranger Wildtrak

Third in-line, the aging D-Max retails from R511 600 for the 250 LE AT to R728 200 for the 300 LX 4×4 AT with the P-Series starting from a bargain R397 900 for the 2.0 DLX and ending at a steal of R554 900 for the 2.0 LT 4×4 AT.

Now locally built, the Navara ranges from R474 000 for the 120 kW SE to R740 000 for the 140 kW Pro-4X AT with the Triton starting at R574 995 and ending at R654 995 for the 4×4 automatic.

Nissan Navara
The now locally made Nissan Navara has it’s sight set on taking the Isuzu D-Max’s third spot on the bakkie podium.

Lastly, the Amarok top the list of the country’s most expensive bakkie with the 2.0 BiTDI Highline Tiptronic retailing from R719 600 and the top-spec 3.0 TDI Extreme 4Motion Tiptronic from R996 000.

For more information on the new Mazda BT-50, click here.

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