Should you swap your Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux for a light duty truck? Isuzu says the N Series is a better bet than utes for tradies

Is a ute really the best tool of trade for you? That’s the question Isuzu’s truck arm is asking tradies across Australia as it looks to get people out of utes and vans and into small light duty trucks.

Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) sells light and heavy duty trucks, with the N Series the country’s best-selling light truck by some margin. Isuzu Ute Australia, which sells the D-Max and MU-X, is a separate entity.

Australians have been buying one-tonne utes in record numbers, and they have transitioned from just being tradie workhorses into popular family cars and weekend adventure vehicles. Just look at the likes of the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.

But the top brass at IAL reckon utes are, often, not servicing the needs of certain types of trades - like builders - and the Japanese truckmaker is targeting them and other tradies with its N Series.

Most of the N Series ‘Ready to Work’ range only requires a standard car licence and Isuzu says they can carry about a tonne more than a regular ute.

IAL Director and Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Harbison, made no bones about who Isuzu was targeting.

“Tradies is the big one. That's someone that runs some form of trade, or a person who's out doing some form of manual work and needs to carry stuff around. But they just can't run the risk of having their people driving vehicles that are illegal. So that's a massive part of it. But targeting those trade guys, just getting them to understand the benefit of how practical the truck is and that it's safer to drive,” he said.

Most of the N Series ‘Ready to Work’ range only requires a standard car licence and Isuzu says they can carry about a tonne more than a regular ute.

He added that commercial trades such as mining companies were also part of the mix.

When he refers to vehicles that are “illegal”, Harbison is talking about tradies that are overloading their utes, or vans, to the point that they can’t handle the load. He’s also referring to tradies towing a trailer load that the ute can’t handle.

Adding to the appeal is the fact that the N Series features modern multimedia connectivity such as Apple CarPlay, and some advanced driver assistance features like auto emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning and stability control.

Harbison said their strategy to lure tradies away from utes and vans and into the N Series truck is working, citing anecdotal evidence and sales figures.

“Anecdotally, we know that the volume of our sales to trade related customers with that product is going through the roof. We know that when we measure year on year the metrics we get that it's been successful,” he said.

Adding to the appeal is the fact that the N Series features modern multimedia connectivity.

“Our market share tells the story. We've got 50 per cent market share in the light duty segment at the moment and we're doing that by both growing the market by bringing new buyers into it, and taking greater sales from the market.”

So far this year Isuzu has sold just under 3000 examples of the light duty N Series, while the LDV Deliver 9 is the next most popular on 1556 sales.

Mr Harbison said that customers that are new to light trucks have been pleasantly surprised by the sales and aftersales experience, even though it could be a leap initially.

“There's a truck dealership that's got a range of Kenworth or Western Stars or Volvos or whatever it is around the front [on the dealer forecourt], obviously that’s a little bit intimidating for a first time buyer to cross the footpath. Once they're there, we believe that the service expectations, the experience that they will receive, is as good if not better.”

There are dozens of N Series variant combinations, including dual-cab, single-cab, tipper, trays, van backs and service vehicles.