Isuzu partners with Jonty Rhodes to make lifestyle pickup mainstream in India

- Isuzu partners with Jonty Rhodes to promote lifestyle pickup in India
- The D-MAX V-Cross to get an automatic variant in near future
- Local facility to be used as an export hub in future 

Japanese utility vehicle manufacturer, Isuzu, has partnered with the legendary South African cricketer Jonathan Neil Rhodes, popularly known as Jonty Rhodes, to promote its lifestyle pickup, the D-MAX V-Cross in India. Amidst a trend of growing demand for the SUV segment in the country, the company aims to promote its lifestyle pickup with impressive off-road potential.

As revealed to the media, Isuzu is also considering utilizing its state-of-art manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh for exports. The Isuzu D-MAX V-Cross is currently powered by a 2.5-litre diesel engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission to generate 134bhp of power at 3600rpm and 320Nm of torque at 1800rpm. As stated by the company, the V-Cross is likely to get an automatic variant in the near future.

Pickup vehicles being a lifestyle product, its sales have been purely driven by auto enthusiasts. The company’s partnership with the cricketing legend is expected to further encourage potential buyers in a country where cricket is seen more of a religion than a sport. Earlier this year, the company had introduced the updated V-Cross in India which is now offered with features such as LED daytime running lamps and LED tail lamps, electronic stability control (ESC) and a traction control system (TCS). The updated model also gets a six-way electrically adjustable driver seat along with cruise control for added convenience.