Isuzu India announces association with Jonty Rhodes

Isuzu Motors India has signed on former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes to promote the D-Max V-Cross lifestyle pick-up. Jonty Rhodes implored Indians to explore India with the Isuzu UV. Regarded as one of the finest fielders the world has ever seen, Jonty further elaborated on why the pick-up makes perfect sense for India.

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The Japanese UV maker currently has the D-Max V-Cross and mu-X in its portfolio for the personal segment. The automaker also has a presence in the commercial segment. In its six years of operation in India, Isuzu has sold a total of 12,000 units with the D-Max V-Cross now accounting for close to 30 percent of the sales now. The Isuzu manufacturing plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh now also builds vehicles for foreign markets like Nepal and Bhutan. Isuzu says that efforts are underway to ramp up production to cater to markets as far away as Africa. The current capacity is a healthy 50,000 units a year.

Also read: Test drive review of the 2018 Honda CR-V Diesel

The Isuzu D-Max V-Cross currently on sale in India features a 2.5 litre Turbo Diesel engine that produces 132bhp at 3600rpm and 320Nm of torque from 1800rpm. The D-Max also comes with a reasonable amount of off-road capability. The pick-up is a popular choice for adventure enthusiasts all over the country and at Rs. 14.32lakh(ex-showroom) is fairly easy on the pocket too. The D-Max V-Cross doesn’t have much in terms of competition from other manufacturers in the segment. The mu-X SUV is based on the same platform too.

Words by Afzal Rawuther