Produced since 2006, initially as a compact and now as a mid-size pickup truck, the Mazda BT-50 was conceived as a successor to the influential B-series model – even though it is not sold at home and across the North American markets. But what if that changed?
The B-series was produced across five generations from 1961 to 2006, initially as a commercial vehicle placed above kei trucks, and was known by many names: Mazda Proceed at home in Japan; Bravo and Bounty in Australia and New Zealand, respectively; Mazda Drifter in South Africa; or Magnum, Thunder, and Fighter in Thailand, for example.
In America, the model was basically a Ford Ranger due to Mazda's association with the Blue Oval company – and was offered from 1994 until 2011. The Mazda BT-50 overlapped with the B-series, but that wasn't an issue because the former wasn't offered in America. It was, however, still related to Ford's Ranger throughout the course of the first and second generations.
From 2020, though, Mazda had to search for a different partner because the latest Ford Ranger is now associated with the second-generation Volkswagen Amarok. As such, unlike its predecessors, the third BT-50 iteration comes with the company's 'Kodo' design language overlayed on top of the third-gen Isuzu D-Max. Offered as a two-door single cab, four-door extended cab, and double cab, this iteration of Mazda's BT-50 is even built at an Isuzu plant in Thailand.
As such, if the Japanese company wants to feature a mid-size pickup truck comeback to America with the fourth generation BT-50, they may need to think about a different partner to develop it. Well, at least as far as the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, it looks like their CGI sights are on the Honda Ridgeline. So, the good folks from the Rcars channel on YouTube have some AI-assisted CGI thoughts about the next-generation BT-50 pickup truck and its return to the US.
The resident pixel master features a streamlined design for the unofficial BT-50 proposal that could bring Mazda back to the United States' mid-size pickup truck sector to clash with the 2024 Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier, plus the unibody Honda Ridgeline. It seems pretty much inspired by the latter – at least regarding the front three-quarters perspective.
The rear POV, on the other hand, provides an entirely distinct styling that's more reminiscent of the current BT-50 – and it's clearly something that wouldn't bode well for America. So, there's a conundrum – would you approve a Mazda BT-50 in America looking like a cooler Ridgeline from the front and like a run-of-the-mill, boring pickup truck from Asia from the rear?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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