Mazda BT-50 REVIEW | 2016 Dual Cab XTR – Tough, Capable, And A Face You Don’t Have To Hide
FACELIFTED FOR 2016, THE MAZDA BT-50 DUAL CAB XTR IS ON A MISSION: it wants the share it deserves in the four-door four-wheel-drive ute segment.
Australians love this segment. In the first five months of this year they purchased 58,580 utes from the ‘pickup/cab chassis 4x4’ class. Where the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux have each snared a 20 percent slice of that cake, however, the Mazda BT-50 has latched onto just 6.6 percent – despite being near-twinned with the Ford.
More’s the mystery given that Mazda passenger and SUV models sell up a storm in this country. So the question is simple: why aren’t more tradies buying the BT-50?
Vehicle Style: Ute / Pickup
Price: $50,890 (plus on-roads)
Engine/trans: 147kW/470Nm 3.2 litre 5cyl turbo-diesel | 6sp automatic
Fuel Economy claimed: 9.2 l/100km | tested: 14.2 l/100km
OVERVIEW
Firstly, the BT-50 4x4 Dual Cab costs $2000 more than the BT-50 4x4 Freestyle Cab. The latter comes with two tiny rear doors and a ‘jump’ seat for occasional use, rather than proper doors and a properly padded rear-bench as featured here.
With an automatic transmission, the cheapest 4x4 Dual Cab is the XT at $46,490 plus on-road costs, followed by the XTR at $50,890 (plus orc) – the one we’re testing – and the flagship GT at $53,140 (plus orc).