2023 Isuzu D-Max, MU-X and Mazda BT-50 score minor safety updates, revised ANCAP rating

The 2023 Isuzu D-Max, MU-X and 2023 Mazda BT-50 twins have received an updated five-star ANCAP safety rating, courtesy of minor interior revisions.

All vehicles produced from July 2022 – comprising model-year 2023 and some model-year 2022 units – feature revisions to the design of the driver's knee airbag and instrument panel, bringing additional safety performance.

The revisions have allowed the adult occupant protection score to increase to 86 per cent – up from 83 per cent for D-Max, MU-X and BT-50 vehicles produced before July 2022.

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As before, the D-Max and MU-X have a score of 89 per cent for child occupant protection, 69 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 84 per cent for safety assist.

The Mazda BT-50 has identical figures in all categories except vulnerable road user protection, with a slightly lower 67 per cent due to its unique front-end design. In addition, its ANCAP score doesn't apply to the flagship Thunder variant, which remains 'unrated'.

Eight airbags (dual frontal, side head, side chest, and driver's knee and front-centre) are fitted as standard on the D-Max, MU-X and BT-50.

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Notably, although the criteria hasn't changed since the D-Max was tested in 2020, it has allowed the safety authority to include a 2022 datestamp – bringing an additional two years, until 2028, before each car's crash rating expires following ANCAP's newly-introduced six-year time limit.

This time limit will affect the Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton – both tested in 2015 – on December 31, 2022, potentially limiting fleet purchases until the next-generation models launch in the coming years, as many fleets mandate a five-star ANCAP rating.

The current ratings will still apply for cars produced between 2015 and 2022 but will appear under the 'previous models' section on ANCAP's website, with an 'unrated' label for 2023 and later vehicles.

ANCAP's testing will expand for 2023, with new criteria to assess a vehicle’s ability to avoid a crash with a motorcyclist, child presence detection, and vehicle submergence, which could lead to hefty engineering work for existing vehicles to achieve a five-star rating, if reassessment occurs.

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The latest-generation Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 utes arrived in 2020, while the related MU-X body-on-frame large SUV launched in 2021.

To the end of November 2022, VFACTS new-car sales data reveals Isuzu has sold 22,775 examples of the D-Max in 2022 in Australia, placing it fourth in the ute segment behind the Toyota HiLux (52,801), Ford Ranger (42,816) and Mitsubishi Triton (26,382).

Mazda has registered 11,702 sales for the BT-50, while the MU-X is the third best-selling large SUV, with its 10,043 figure placing it behind the Toyota LandCruiser Prado (20,132) and Toyota Kluger (11,786).