Revised BT50/Ranger due in August

The light commercial market is enjoying unprecedented growth. After Holden has been first cab off the rank with a revitalised and more competitive Colorado version of its outgoing Rodeo models, Mazda, Ford and Nissan are poised to announce freshen-ups of their much newer ranges.

Both the current Mazda BT50 and Ford Ranger which are essentially the same model, have driven big sales increases for both manufacturers.

Mazda this week hinted that the company will announce a freshen-up of the BT50 range in August to go on sale in September while Ford dealers have been prepared for a parallel development.

The main focus will be several new specifications, a minor body tweak or two and a sharper value-for-money equation. Ford and Mazda will also add several bright new colours to both ranges.

The Thai websites for both vehicles, which is where they are built, provide a hint of what is available for the Australian market. Both companies are tight-lipped about exactly what they will specify for the Australian market but it is fair to predict that the updated top-level models will be bolder and brighter to compete with the Toyota Hilux and Nissan D40 Navara, along with better-equipped entry models.

The extra detail in Holden's new Colorado compared to the outgoing Rodeo reflects the direction of the market.

The time is also near for a similar update for Nissan's Spanish-built D40 Navara range which is currently limited to a single dual cab ute style only. Nissan has been keen to add other body configurations to the D40 range to complement its recent relaunch of the smaller D22 Navara. 

Nissan will use this opportunity to tweak the rest of the D40 range within a similar time frame to the Mazda/Ford twins.

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