Isuzu Motors South Africa (IMSAf) chief executive and managing director Michael Sacke expects the group’s Japanese parent company to make a decision this year about the manufacture in South Africa of the replacement model to its current D-Max bakkie. Sacke said they had been producing the D-Max, previously named the KB, since 2012 and it was starting to get to the end of its life cycle.

Expectations. Normally it is a good thing. But it can also be counter-productive; especially when the final product does not live up to the initial hype created around it. 

The next few months are going to be very busy with a host of new and updated bakkies, making their way to local showroom floors.

- As far as bakkie sales are concerned, Toyota’s Hilux has a stranglehold on the South African market, as it has for decades now, but that has never stopped its rivals from stepping up to the plate with some compelling alternatives.