Isuzu MU-X to add 1.9-litre diesel engine option in Australia next year

The Isuzu MU-X 4WD is set to add a smaller 1.9-litre engine as an option – with less power but improved fuel economy – in 2024.

The Isuzu MU-X four-wheel-drive SUV is due to add the option of a smaller 1.9-litre diesel engine in Australia sometime in 2024 – nearly three years after it joined the related D-Max ute line-up.

The 1.9-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine develops 110kW and 350Nm, and promises lower fuel consumption than the existing 3.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine and its 140kW/450Nm outputs.

Prices are yet to be confirmed by Isuzu Ute Australia, and it remains to be seen if it is exclusive to the base-model LS-M, or will be available on mid- and top-of-the-range MU-X models as well.

The 1.9-litre diesel engine was added to the Isuzu D-Max ute range in Australia in 2021, after it was introduced overseas on the previous model in 2015, albeit in an earlier form.

In the D-Max line-up it is offered exclusively with select versions of the cheapest model, the SX, with a $2000 lower price before on-road costs.

However the difference in drive-away pricing on the entry-level 4×2 single-cab manual version is about $10,000, as the 1.9-litre variant is sold with a discounted $31,990 drive-away ‘special offer’, but the 3.0-litre model uses its full retail price, equating to about $42,000 depending on state and territory of registration.

A spokesperson for Isuzu Ute Australia (IUA) said in a written statement to Drive: “IUA plans to introduce the Isuzu 1.9L engine available in some current D-Max variants to the MU-X range in 2024.

“Exact timings and model range at this stage is not confirmed, but we will provide more information when it becomes available.”

There is a chance the addition of the 1.9-litre engine could coincide with a facelift for the MU-X range – matching a styling update unveiled for the D-Max in October 2023 – as the latest MU-X was unveiled and introduced a year after its D-Max twin, making it due for a facelift late next year.

However this is yet to be confirmed, and such a facelift – if one is planned – may not arrive in Australia until 2025 as Drive has previously reported the updated D-Max unveiled in Thailand may not reach Australia until early 2024.

The 1.9-litre MU-X will become the least powerful vehicle in the ute-based four-wheel-drive category, as most four-cylinder rivals offer between 130kW and 150kW – and between 420Nm and 500Nm.

It is fractionally lighter than the 3.0-litre model, by about 65kg based on Thai specifications.

Using the D-Max as a guide – in which the 1.9-litre engine cuts claimed fuel use by about 14 per cent – the 1.9-litre MU-X could claim fuel consumption of 6.7 to 7.2L/100km, and become one of the most frugal vehicles in its category

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