Mazda BT-50 has recently disappeared from the product portfolio on Mazda Vietnam’s official website. Distributor Thaco has quietly withdrawn the pickup truck from the market.
Mazda BT-50 is no longer featured on distributor Thaco’s homepage.
Sales staff at some dealerships have also hinted that the Mazda BT-50 has been temporarily discontinued because the vehicle is awaiting an upcoming upgrade from Thailand, the country that exports the pickup truck to Vietnam.
Additionally, the Mazda BT-50 has not been a top-seller in the pickup truck segment. Sluggish sales may also be a contributing factor to the BT-50’s quiet retirement.
Mazda Vietnam sold only 5 BT-50 units in Q1 2024.
Specifically, according to data from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), Thaco only distributed a mere 5 Mazda BT-50 units in Q1/2024, all of which were sold in January 2024. In February and March 2024, the Japanese pickup truck failed to deliver any units to customers.
The Mazda pickup truck’s sales for the entire year of 2023 reached only 812 units.
In 2023, the Mazda BT-50 recorded sales of just 812 units over the course of 12 months, trailing far behind the “pickup truck king” Ford Ranger, which sold 16,085 units, and also falling short of the Mitsubishi Triton’s sales of 2,572 units.
In Thailand, where the vehicle is imported from, the Mazda BT-50 has received an upgrade.
In the Vietnamese market, the Mazda BT-50 features a Kodo design, characterized by its elegance, which may not fully align with consumer preferences for a rugged, angular pickup truck. The vehicle boasts a well-equipped interior and an ADAS intelligent active safety package, but it is powered by the same diesel engine used in the Isuzu D-Max.
The Mazda BT-50 shares its chassis and 1.9L diesel engine with the Isuzu D-Max.
Due to being fully imported, the 3.0L turbocharged diesel variant cannot be sold in Vietnam at a competitive price. Meanwhile, the current 1.9L diesel variant does not offer any notable advantages over its rivals.
In addition to quietly removing the Mazda BT-50 from its product lineup, distributor Thaco has not disclosed any information regarding the launch of a future facelift for the Japanese pickup truck.
