All-new 2020 Isuzu D-Max revealed and it's wider, more powerful than ever

Isuzu Thailand launched the 2020 Isuzu D-Max and it now comes with a wider and bolder design. The Japanese car manufacturer’s reliable and popular pickup has been around in the market for almost eight years. The D-Max was first launched in 2012 and since then has received numerous cosmetic changes and a new power plant. With its relatively long model life span, the pickup was due for an upgrade and that time has come.

Here’s a quick rundown of what features the all-new Isuzu D-Max has in Thailand.

Major changes can be seen on the front of the D-Max. It now features a more aggressive styling that's dominated by its grille. The headlights no longer have built-in signal lights, which were relocated to the front bumper. The headlights also have a new housing with bigger daytime running lights present. Lighting comes from Bi-LED projectors or for the base model, a multi-reflector halogen headlight. At the rear, it features a revised taillight design.

Dimensions for the all-new pickup have also increased. It’s now 5,265mm long, 1,870mm wide, and 1,785mm tall. The current Philippine-spec D-Max is 5,295mm long, which means that the 2020 D-Max is shorter. Where the new generation has an advantage is with the width and the height – it’s 10mm wider and 10mm taller than the current D-Max.

Bed dimensions for the all-new pickup are as follows: 1,495mm in length, 1,530mm in width, and 490mm in height. That represents 1,120 Liters worth of space for the bed of the truck.

Ground clearance for the Thai spec D-Max changes per variant but the range is from 190mm all the way to 240mm of ground clearance. 

The all-new D-max is available in nine colors in Thailand: Everest Pearl White, Bavarian Black Mica, Bohemian Silver Metallic, Polynesian Blue metallic, Valencia Topaz Metallic, Zermatt Silver, Siberian White, Bohemian Silver Metallic, and Bavarian Black Mica.

The interior of the reliable pickup also gets an upgrade. While exact interior color themes vary from variant to variant, what is known is that it now gets a more cohesive design. Smackdab in the middle is a new 9-inch infotainment system. It is now Android Auto and Apple CarPlay ready and features a navigation system as well. It even comes with a 360-degree view camera.

Just below it is the dual climate control switches. You read that right – switches because there are no knobs present for the climate controls. The passengers in the rear also get a couple of cooling options as the center console now has air vents for the rear.

For sound, it features an 8-speaker sound system with surround sound. Out of the eight speakers, the two in the front come in a large form factor of 6x9. This allows the D-Max to bring in some serious sound quality. 

Even the instrument panel gets a rework. It now features a 4.2-inch multi-information display flanked by two analog gauges. Thanks to its generous screen size, the pickup now gets better graphics.

Power options for the all-new D-Max is a second generation of the 1.9-liter powerplant and an uprated 3.0-liter. The 1.9-liter still has the same power output as the current generation but comes with better fuel efficiency. The 3.0-liter engine, on the other hand, gets a substantial boost from 174 hp to 187 hp. As for torque, it now produces 450 Nm which is 70 Nm improvement over the current Philippine-spec 3.0-liter.

The new D-max now rides on Isuzu’s Dynamic Drive Platform. With the new platform comes changes to the vehicle’s dynamics. First, the engine is now situated slightly behind the front axle. Having this configuration makes the pickup become an almost mid-ship layout vehicle. Adding to the ruggedness of the pickup, it also features an ultra-high tensile body design. 

For suspension, it now features a double-wishbone suspension up front with coil springs. At the back, however, is still a set of leaf springs and a similar suspension layout as the current generation. Brakes have also been updated for the new model.

The pickup now gets six airbags. Two for the driver and front passenger, two per side, and two curtain airbags. Active safety features for the vehicle include ABS, EBD, brake override system, electronic stability control, traction control, hill descent, and hill ascent control, blind-spot monitoring system, and rear cross-traffic alert.

There is no word yet about when the new generation of Isuzu’s popular pickup will make its way to the Philippines. But historically, it usually takes about a year before Thailand launched models that make it into our market.