Here in North America, Mazda sells the B-Series pickup, and to anyone with half the sense of a chipmunk it's obviously a disguised version of the Ford Ranger. But in Britain, Australia, Thailand, and most of the rest of the world, Mazda has introduced a new pickup known as the BT-50--and we may have a reason to be jealous.
Based on the international version of Ford's Ranger and built alongside that truck, the BT-50 is stylish with a chiseled nose and bulging flares front and rear. Built at Mazda and Ford's AutoAlliance plant in Thailand, it was introduced at the Bangkok International Motor Show and is available in Thailand with 3.0- and 2.5-liter DOHC 16-valve common-rail turbodiesel four-cylinder engines, which can be backed by either five-speed manual or automatic, in two- or four-wheel drive. A lightweight and good-looking small truck with diesel economy may be something Mazda should sell here, even if that truck has to come all the way from Thailand.