Having entered its sixth year of production, Isuzu has indicated that a replacement for the current generation D-Max will reportedly show itself around 2027.

2.2 first, more updates ahead?

The Citizen reports that, unveiled as the first completely new model in eight years in Thailand in 2019, the current internally named RG D-Max will seemingly receive another round of updates before being replaced in about 18 months.

The recipient of its first and only facelift in 2023, the D-Max’s most recent change came last year with the introduction of the 2.2-litre MaxForce turbodiesel engine.

Stemming from the same RZ family as the 1.9-litre it will ultimately replace, the unit develops 120kW and 400Nm, and is paired with a new eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Likely to be offered in the all-new D-Max, no details about the incoming fourth generation are known given its projected reveal date.

“You can imagine that we are now [on an] eight-year cycle [for] changing models, so like that, we are considering,” an unnamed Isuzu representative told drive.com.au at last month’s Tokyo Mobility Show.

End of the 3.0-litre?

The uncertainty around the D-Max also extends to whether it will continue using the long-serving 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine, which has been around since 2002 and is likely to fall foul of coming emissions rules.

Rumoured to be replaced by the MaxForce, which received an upgrade to 162kW and 550Nm in the modernised 1988 TF-based DragonMax concept shown in Thailand last year, the 3.0-litre currently produces 140kW and 450Nm and remains the most powerful engine in the global D-Max range.

What about South Africa?

Locally, Isuzu South Africa has remained quiet on the introduction of the facelift D-Max, which was expected to debut this year, according to cars.co.za.

Offered in two derivatives – the conventional D-Max and the previous generation known as the Gen 6 sold as a back-to-basics workhorse – the updated D-Max now appears likely to arrive only next year, though nothing has been confirmed.

Delayed by the pandemic as well as revisions for the local market, which saw sales only start in 2022, the facelift D-Max could introduce the 2.2-litre as a replacement for the 1.9-litre, but only if it proves reliable in South African conditions.

This is according to company CEO Billy Tom, who told cars.co.za in October, “We’ve got a new engine – and we’re looking at when we can bring them. But we also don’t want to move too fast. We want to ensure that they’ve been tested, because we need to play to our strengths”.

Tom also revealed that tests have taken place on making the all-electric D-Max EV available locally as only the country’s second electric bakkie after the Riddara RD6.

“In Europe, we recently launched the battery electric [D-Max]. So, when they are available, we will consider that – study it – but make it a point that the consumer is not worse off, the consumer is not stranded. We’ll do the right thing,” Tom said.

Watch this space

For now, it remains unknown when the updated D-Max will arrive. However, with the heavily updated MU-X unveiled in June – imported from Thailand rather than assembled at the Struandale plant outside Gqeberha – more details are expected to emerge in 2026.

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