Tougher new Mazda BT-50 design locked in

The all-new Mazda BT-50 ute is still about two years away, but its design and launch strategy is already locked in.

As images of the next-generation Ford Ranger — which will also launch in 2021 — begin leaking out, Mazda has confirmed the design of its next-generation pick-up has also been finalised.

The current Mazda BT-50 is based on the same platform as the critically-acclaimed Ford Ranger, but the next-generation Mazda pick-up will share its architecture with the next Isuzu D-MAX ute.

As Isuzu and Mazda hop into bed for ute development, Ford and Volkswagen are also getting cozy with the next Ranger and Amarok being co-developed in Melbourne on the same Australian-designed T7 ladder platform.

Mazda Australia told carsales.com.au that its next BT-50 has already taken shape and that it will be “crucial” for the brand going forward.

“We know exactly what's coming and when it’s coming and what it looks like,” said Mazda Australia’s marketing director, Alastair Doak.

Although he wouldn’t say when the new ute will be available -- nor what it will look like -- Doak said co-development of the new Mazda BT-50 with Isuzu is coming along nicely.

"We're very happy. Everything's on schedule," he said.

Doak wouldn’t reveal exact arrival timing for the new Mazda BT-50 but the new Ford Ranger is expected to break cover in 2021, spelling the end of production for the current BT.

“I can’t really talk about how long the current BT-50 has got to go, but it's got a while,” he said.

Mazda Australia managing director, Vinesh Bhindi, said the BT-50 remains vital to the brand's success and has the potential to increase its appeal among private customers.

“For Mazda Australia the BT-50 is critical,” he said. “Our focus will be private buyers even for the ute.”

This could suggest a more rugged design than the current ‘smiley face’ model, which is more curvaceous than its slab-sided rivals and was subject to an Australian-designed facelift that brought a squarer front bumper in May 2018.

Bhindi said that although the BT-50 will never match the likes of the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger in terms of outright sales in Australia, he suggested it could become one of Mazda’s most popular models.

“It's unlikely it [new BT-50] will leapfrog our top-sellers, but it's hard to say at this stage,” he said.

For Toyota and Ford, their best-sellers are their utes, but the Mazda3 remains the Japanese brand's top-seller (followed by the CX-5 and CX-3 SUVs) and was Australia’s fourth most popular new vehicle last year behind the HiLux, Ranger and Toyota Corolla.

However, Mazda admitted at the launch of the more expensive new Mazda3 launch earlier this month that it could be usurped by the CX-5 as SUV sales continue to boom and the small cars market continues to decline.

Australia’s top-selling vehicle in 2012, the Mazda3 last year found 31,000 new homes, followed by the CX-5 (26,000), CX-3 (16,300) and BT-50.

Mazda sold 13,167 BT-50s in 2018 -- down from 14,029 in 2017 and representing a small proportion of the 200,000-plus utes bought in Australia last year, when Toyota shifted more than 50,000 HiLuxes.

The dip in Mazda BT-50 sales could continue as more rivals such as the new SsangYong Musso and 2019 Mitsubishi Triton hit the scene, but if Mazda plays its cards right and nails the design, the new-generation BT-50 could hit the ground running 2021.