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Isuzu: Both sides of the D-Max
Date: Monday, June 6, 2022 | Author: James Dallas
Isuzu UK presented a stand of two halves at the CV Show, showcasing both its workhorse trucks and those aimed squarely at the lifestyle sector.
Included in the former category were a range of D-Max conversions carried out at the importer’s conversion centre in Sheerness, where its vehicles enter the UK.
Isuzu UK type approves and warranties these conversions before delivering them to customers.
Isuzu UK’s product manager Brian Wheeler says the conversions are undertaken according to customers’ requirements with multiple orders based on a demonstrator model developed at the centre.
“If there’s a fault the customer can come back to Isuzu and get it fixed under warranty,” said Wheeler.
On display were trucks converted for Network Rail, Mitie, National Resources Wales and a cherry picker developed in partnership with Cumberland Platforms.
Explaining Isuzu UK’s decision to take its conversion operation in-house, national fleet manager Neil Scott said: “We were seeing more vehicles with third party conversion issues so we made the decision to be a one stop shop and control the whole process.”
“If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right,” he said.
Prioritising safety is key, Wheeler insists.
“We’ve got the safest pick-up, so we want the safest conversions too,” he said.
All conversions Isuzu UK completes at Sheerness are accredited with UK NI whole vehicle type approval or National Small Series type approval.
The centre also has facilities to apply livery or wrapping to trucks or to fit telematics systems. Wheeler says if a D-Max conversion develops a fault the customer can take it to one of the brand’s 104 UK dealerships to have the problem resolved, rather than having to also engage a third-party converter, thus reducing VOR (vehicle off road) time.
Pride of place on the lifestyle section of the stand was taken by a one-off show-special version of the D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35, codenamed Basecamp.
The “expedition-ready” truck features a hard shell rooftop tent mounted on a hard top Gearmate canopy, a fridge and a slide-out kitchen unit incorporating a three-burner gas stove and a 12-litre collapsible sink.
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