Mazda NZ has explained background to how it set pricing for its new one-tonne ute. They’ve made it part of their passenger car family.

DETERMINATION to align the BT-50 more naturally with its passenger models was a reason Mazda NZ gave when successfully winning head office approval to site the one-tonner into a price zone that has proven significantly different to that occupied by its Isuzu doppelganger.

That impetus also explains why the Auckland-centre distributor has bypassed worksite-biased variants in the D-Max family and focused purely on double cab automatics wellsides, in three rear-drives and three four-wheel-drives, formatting in GSX, GTX and Limited. 

The BT-50 rear-drives placing respectively at $47,490 GSX, $51,490 and $53,990, with the four-wheel-drive versions adding an additional $7000, leaves them undercutting their Isuzu equivalents, most obviously at flagship level, where the Limited 4x4 sites $14,500 below the top D-Max X-Terrain. The latter has additional body styling enhancements that, when added to the BT-50, do not reduce the gap significantly.

 Isuzu Utes New Zealand, which released its range a month before the BT-50 launch yesterday, has been asked to share its thoughts about Mazda NZ’s strategy, but has not responded.

While BT-50’s pricing also leaves it looking good against the category-dominating Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, it’s the situation that exists between it and the D-Max that is most likely to create chat as the models are essentially one and the same under different skins.

Identical chassis, drivetrain, closely linked for bulk interior architecture and built in the same factory in Thailand, on a common line. Mazda was able to implement its own exterior styling, so few panels are shared, and had responsibility for the cabin’s look, but the ute is primarily enough of an Isuzu project for Mazda NZ to refer to their brand as being a customer.

David Hodge (pictured), Mazda NZ managing director, said he could not speak to how Isuzu chose to market the D-Max, but confirmed that BT-50 negotiations were conducted solely with Mazda HQ in Hiroshima, took more than a year and were based on persuading that aligning the BT-50 as not only a workhorse but also a lifestyle alternate to the CX-designated sports utilities would bring growth.

The caveat from persuading Japan to give the green light is that the big factor that has driven the ute market, willingness to discount, will be absent from the sales process for this one.

“Traditionally the (ute) segment has been about a high recommended retail and a high discount, and it’s been that way for a very long time,” Hodge says. 

“I think most retail buyers have not had to pay the full RRP for a long time and, if they were, they were probably paying too much.

“With passenger cars, certainly Mazda passenger cars, we’ve tried to make our pricing more transparent, and having our retail price close to what the transaction price is. We’ve now followed that example with the BT-50. 

“We don’t expect there will be discounts, but we think … we will have no problem selling it to buyers wanting to pay the price we ask. We think it is a fair price and still offers bloody good value for money.”

They’re not outright selling the BT-50 as a car, or even a straight out car alternate, but the intent is to sell it in the same way they would a passenger vehicle.

Says Hodge about the type: “It was once pretty much solely the vehicle for farmers, tradies and those in the construction industry.

“While they are still a very important buying segment … we wanted to create a truck that was equally capable of being a tough workhorse and also doing the business of transporting the family in comfort to outdoor leisure activities.

“A design that shines equally in all situations, all the way from rough off-road settings to passenger car-like comfort for active weekend life-stylers and families.”

Mazda NZ is confident a fresh step of now including the BT-50 in the Mazda Car programme that has previously been for passenger models, will pay dividend. The old model was subject to a less generous process than now. Buyers of the new benefit from the same cover that has been provisioned the make’s cars: So five years, 150,000km factory warranty and a fixed priced servicing programme, also over five years, in which any scheduled workshop time will never cost more than $250.

That servicing cost cap is a big driver for building trust, Hodge says. “Some of these services can be really, really expensive. If a customer feels they are being looked after by a dealership then they are more likely to want to stay with a brand.”

There’s a third identified strength with the latest model: It’s improved safety. Hodge says it is “as safe, if not safer, than any other new car on sale today.”

As much as Mazda NZ anticipates growth, and has established sales targets, it has no intent of making these public. The outgoing BT-50 was generally languishing at fifth on the annual ute sales roster, but with the new model offering so much more, and with the Holden Colorado – which usually held at third place behind Hiliux and Ranger even after its maker announced in February it was departing from the market – now out of the picture, it’s clear every lower-placed performer will see opportunity to move up.

Hodge doesn’t disagree, but he and product and sales planning manasger Tim Nalden say BT-50’s success will not be measured by chasing share; it’s more about customer satisfaction. 

“We’ll just accept where the market puts us,” says Hodge. “WE have a really successful passenger range, so we’re not heavily reliant on the BT-50. It sits alongside our passenger range as an extra vehicle, so we have a complete range. It’s not our do-or-die model.

“We’re pretty confident we are going to do alright with our truck, but the volume is what the volume will be. We will have limited amounts that we can get from the factory. It’s not a tap we can turn on quickly. We can increase volume, but it will take a while.”

In respect to this, Mazda NZ has still not had clarity from Japan about the plant’s operational status, which has been in question since Isuzu announced that production has curtailed, and might not restart until February, due to a Germany-based supplier of a vital part having been closed by Covid-19. Isuzu has intimated the vehicle cannot be built without a component only that supplier can provide. So it has closed the factory.

Well, apparently. Hodge says as far as Mazda NZ is concerned, the BT-50 is still in production until it is emphatically advised otherwise.

 “I cannot talk for Isuzu but everything we have been told is that our December production is firm. We have not heard anything about our January production but we will assume, until we hear otherwise, that this is also unaffected.”