As expected Isuzu’s new wagon has dramatically modernised – but, like the ute is is based off, it’s also become dramatically more expensive.

 THE next-generation Isuzu MU-X four-wheel-drive has arrived with a new look and also a new price position – shifting into a bracket $15,000 above its predecessor.

In confirming that just one version of the seven-seat wagon spin from the latest D-Max one-tonne utility is set to sell here, Isuzu New Zealand has also notified on its website that this LS-T variant will cost $80,990.

The model chosen for New Zealand is the highest specification version built by the brand, so furnishes with plushest trimmings – including leather, of course - and a swathe of technology and a part-time all-wheel-drive system.

Conceivably, Isuzu here could have also chosen, as Australia has, less expensive LS-M and LS-U, which furnish the option of a rear-drive drivetrain also offered in LS-T (but not here).

MU-X comes a year after its utility sister ship and also delivers the same drivetrain and many common specification elements, particularly on the safety side – it has benefitted from many of the key improvements applied to the D-Max ute in that respect.

 That means it gains a new airbag technology whose adoption in the ute enabled a category-topping ANCAP score for the type.

The body and chassis have all altered significantly to enable as a passenger model and the styling is far more modern than the outgoing model’s. It is also reasonably removed from the D-Max look.

The MU-X also stands alone this time around. The last was a so-share with General Motors that resulted in the Holden Trailblazer. That model, of course, is now history and the marriage is annulled. Now it is shacked up with Mazda, however though the D-Max and Mazda BT-50 are strongly co-related, Hiroshima has no interest in creating a robust seven seater offshoot.

The MU-X’s 3.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder and six-speed auto are calibrated to the same tune as in the D-Max. That means 140kW of power, 450Nm of torque and a tow rating of 3500kg.

LED headlights and tail lights, 20-inch wheels, leather upholstery, USB ports for passengers in the rear, roof rails, dual-zone climate control, and rain-sensing wipers all come standard in the LS-T trim.

 The wagon has the same instrument display as the D-Max, so adopts the same nine-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.