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The good news for anyone in the market for a new car is that Mazda is going to seriously increase the supply of its BT-50 before the end of the year.
The Thai-built Isuzu D-Max-based ute has been severely limited in supply this year as Mazda Australia struggled to fulfill orders due to global parts shortages and supply chain issues.
But it looks like those issues have been resolved, at least for the BT-50, allowing Mazda to ramp up production in the coming months.
More about the Mazda BT-50
Talking to CarsGuide At a recent BT-50 event, Mazda Australia marketing director Alastair Doak said the company had averaged about 800 units a month this year, but that would change significantly as of November.
“Over the next few months and next year, we’re going to double our shipments, which is great,” he said. “So we’ve certainly been talking to our dealers saying, ‘Great news, inventory is being released, you can talk to existing customers, but also, you know, you can get back on the front foot.’
Mr Doak noted the fact that 2021 was a record year for BT-50 sales following the launch of the current generation model in late 2020. According to him, this year’s supply problems caused disappointment for the Japanese brand.
“Last year we had a record year for the BT-50. And if we had free supply, we would have easily surpassed that this year. So it was very upsetting. So, we finally got that momentum with the new model and we were up and running, and then we had some supply issues. But you know, we were still accepting orders during this period. And so we’re looking forward to trying it again a little bit, which would be great.”
In 2021, Mazda sold a total of 15,662 BT-50s (4×2 and 4×4 sales combined), which was enough to become the fifth best-selling car in Australia, ahead of the Nissan Navara by around 550 units.
Mazda sold just over 10,000 vehicles this year, down about 19 percent from the first 10 months of 2021. It still leads the Navara, which also has limited offerings, but is well behind the dominant Toyota HiLux. and the Ford Ranger, as well as the Mitsubishi Triton and its D-Max twin.
The BT-50 range is currently topped by the flagship Thunder variant, which starts at $68,290 on-road.
Although it is the most reliable BT-50, there is still no direct competitor to the Ranger Raptor or Navara Pro-4X Warrior.
When asked if there was an option for a tougher version of the BT-50, Mr Doak said Mazda was “always looking to do more with the BT-50” and that Mazda Australia dealers and staff were also pushing for something similar. But off-road enthusiasts should not get their hopes up just yet.
“We constantly talk about it, think about it. These things are complicated. So can I say it will be very soon? No, there isn’t. But we will continue to consider this possibility.”
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