Isuzu UTE achieves 300,000 Australian sales
Isuzu UTE Australia (IUA) reached a milestone late last year with the 300,000th vehicle sold since the company’s operations began, co-inciding with the brand’s 15th Anniversary in Australia. As of the end of October, 2023, a total of 218,620 D-MAX utes and 84,181 MU-X SUVs had been sold in Australia, for a cumulative total of 302,801 vehicles.

“It is quite fortuitous that we welcomed our 300,000th vehicle to an Australian home while celebrating our 15-year anniversary,” aid IUA Managing Director, Junta Matsui, who joined the brand in March, 2023, after several senior roles with Mitsubishi.
“Not only would I like to take this opportunity to thank every single customer that has chosen an Isuzu over the last 15 years, but I’d also like to thank not just the 19 dealers that have been with us from the start, but our whole dealer network. We would not be celebrating two landmark achievements if it weren’t for their remarkable commitment, loyalty and service to the brand and our customers.
“As our brand has grown, so too has our dealer network, which has grown to over 165 sites across the country; an expansive footprint that serves the 300,000 Isuzus on Australian roads.”

In celebration of IUA’s 15th anniversary, the marque welcomed more than 250 guests from interstate and internationally - including dealer and corporate office staff, and delegates from Thailand and Japan - to the JW Marriott, Gold Coast. While the meeting celebrated the past success of the brand and the partners involved in making IUA the brand that it is today, it also reflected on the current sales trajectory.
Both the D-MAX and MU-X have become a staple of Australian motoring (particularly he D-MAX), earning their keep in the driveways of thousands of Australian homes and earning accolades from the Australian motoring media, due to their reputation for dependability, fit-for-purpose, and value for money.

With regards to IUA’s sales results so far and the D-MAX and MU-X winning their respective Wheels magazine awards (‘Best Value 4x4 Ute’ and ‘Best Value Off-Road Large SUV’), Matsui, added: “it’s great to see that both customers and the Australian motoring media have recognised the D-MAX and MU-X as two of the best value vehicles available on sale today.
“With healthy levels of vehicle stock landing at dealers locally and [2023] shaping up to be the biggest year ever for our brand, we are optimistic that this positive trajectory will continue.”
Matsui and IUA’s goal of 40,000 sales in 2023 was actually exceeded, with 45,341 D-MAX and MU-X vehicles sold for the year. The D-MAX accounted for the lion’s share of that total, with 31,202 units, and was also the third best-selling vehicle in the country, according to FCAI data released in January.

Isuzu UTE Australia (IUA) began its Australian journey in October, 2008, with the debut of the D-MAX ute. A humble 273 vehicles were sold in 2008, but that increased more than thirteen-fold in 2009, no doubt helped by off-road racing legend Bruce Garland completing the Dakar Rally in a D-MAX that year. In 2013, the MU-X SUV was added, which helped IUA sales reach more than 10,000 per annum that year. Annual sales of over 20,000 was achieved in 2015. From IUA’s local denut debut in 2008, sales increased annually without exception until 2019.
The 100,000 Australian sales milestone for the two-vehicle brand was achieved in April, 2017, with the 200,000 sales mark reached in February, 2021. A second-generation D-MAX was launched in 2020, with a new MU-X following in 2021.
Last year’s sales of 45,341 was the best in IUA’s history, eclipsing the previous benchmark, set in 2021, by almost 10,000 units.

In the past 15 years, Isuzu UTE Australia’s philanthropical programmes have supported grass roots sports, Surf Life Saving Australia, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, the Daniel Morecombe Foundation and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. IUA have given back to their customers, too, with the establishment of the I-Venture Club in 2015 that, to date, has helped more than 3,500 D-MAX and MU-X owners get the most out of their vehicles - under professional supervision - in challenging off-road environments.