Is Australia missing out? This 2023 Isuzu D-Max has a completely overhauled interior!

Isuzu has unveiled a D-Max in China, but while the car appears identical to a high-spec Australian vehicle from the outside, it features an almost completely re-worked interior.

Dubbed the D-Max V-Cross, the vehicle is produced in a joint venture between local automaker Jianxi and Isuzu, and the left-hand drive version of the truck sports a new and more heavily digitized dash design.

Key features include a new widescreen centre touch panel, fully digital dashboard, re-routed air vents, and a more luxurious-looking centre console, which features an Audi-like shift lever, digital handbrake and a wireless phone charger alongside two large bottle holders.

The steering wheel remains the same, while the dash filler swaps out the textured plastic for a gloss finish. Meanwhile, the fly-by-wire shifter leaves room for additional storage under the raised console area.

The Chinese-market model even has a wild three-tone seat trim of white, orange, and black, with textured leather inserts continuing into the door lining. On the downside for Chinese buyers, the D-Max is only available with the smaller 1.9-litre four-cylinder turbocharged ‘RZ4E’ diesel engine, producing 120kW/360Nm.

So, is this an update-in-the-works or a vehicle customised for the tastes of the Chinese market as part of the joint-venture? It is worth noting that as it stands, the remainder of the Chinese-market D-Max vehicles get the same interior (albeit in left-hand drive configuration) as models delivered to Australia.

Isuzu’s Australian division confirmed the interior was part of build specifically for the Chinese-market joint venture, and added there were no plans to change to this interior for Australian vehicles. The D-Max was last updated with some mild tweaks to spec and pricing in late 2022.

Despite having just two passenger models on sale in Australia, Isuzu continues to overperform, thanks to a warm reception for its current third-generation D-Max and second-generation MU-X, which hit our market in 2021.

The D-Max has captured a whopping 12.4 per cent of the 4x4 pick-up market, ranking behind only the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, with the brand’s overall sales placing it seventh in Australia so far this year, having been overtaken by MG and Tesla so far.