Market Insight: Isuzu trajectory stays upward

Speaking at last week’s local launch of the heavily revised MY25 MU-X, IUA executive general manager of sales and network development Ben Jaeger said Isuzu Ute could have finished the year in an even better position – a position he believes will improve with the arrival of facelifted MU-X stock. 

“As you would have seen in the January (sales) figures, we’re not going so crash hot with the MU-X,” he said, noting a 35.4 per cent year-on-year slide to just 786 units. 

“While we still finished third for the month, we’re holding quite a few orders for the new model, and we just can’t wait to get it out.” 

Mr Jaeger pointed to the past success of the MU-X locally and the performance of SUV sales overall as indicators of potential sales performance across the coming year. 

“SUVs are really dominating the market … with sales just under 700,000 units in 2024. So, we’re quite excited in the ramp-up to our MU-X launch,” he enthused. 

“Overall, D-Max and MU-X continue to be represented in the marketplace, and there is quite natural and organic demand for both retail and fleet buyers for these products.” 

Mr Jaeger said that although he expects the D-Max continue its strong sales performance, and MU-X to gather pace as the newly introduced range finds its feet, that market forces will likely see a softer result toward the end of 2025. 

“It (2024) was a record result for us, it was the first time we exceeded 48,000 units (48,172), which was quite a massive result … but we’re not expecting the same level of sales volume in 2025,” he continued. 

“The first six months of 2024 really was about the flushing out of many carryover orders from 2023, so it’s the first six months that very much helped drive that record sales number we saw last year. 

“Which I guess gave us a bit of a false impression as to how strong the market really was. In the last six months of the year, we really started to see a decline in sales as cost-of-living pressures and the market climate start to bite. 

“I think we need to be a little conservative in what we can expect in 2025.” 

Mr Jaeger took time to recap Isuzu’s 2024 market position, noting an eighth-place finish for the brand overall, and sixth-place finish for the D-Max utility range. 

“It’s a fantastic result, and we’re doing some great numbers against some quite larger players,” he enthused, taking time to thank Isuzu Ute dealers and staff for their tireless work. 

“Considering the breadth of our model range, we did very well. 

“These results are important markers of our progress … and show the variance in growth between the top 10 brands.” 

Against industry-wide growth of 0.3 per cent, the data presented shows Isuzu Ute ahead by 6.2 per cent, placing its seventh in terms of year-on-year growth behind Kia (7.4 per cent), Toyota (12.1 per cent), Ford (14.1 per cent), Nissan 15.0 per cent, Mitsubishi (17.4 per cent), and GWM (17.5 per cent). 

Top 10 finishers for 2024 with a growth rate below the industry average include Mazda (-4.0 per cent), Hyundai (-4.7 per cent), and MG Motor (-13.3 per cent). 

Top 10 volume brands – YOY growth variance (2023-24): 

*Data supplied courtesy of Isuzu Ute Australia.