New Car: 2011 Mazda BT-50

Earlier today, Ford showed us the all-new, [semi] global Ranger which Ford developed alongside the Mazda BT-50, which the company just unveiled at the Australian Motor Show in Sydney.

Mazda's latest entrant into the compact pickup truck market is all-new, riding on a brand new chassis and suspension developed with Ford. The new suspension features double A-arms up front with coils on struts. At the rear, engineers equipped the truck with the expected leaf springs.

Although Mazda has yet to divulge what powertrains reside under the hood of the new BT-50, it's likely they'll mirror those of the new global Ranger.

For years, pickup trucks looked virtually the same with a simple, conservative boxy-cab attached to a bed. With its latest pickup though, Mazda wanted to create something expressive people would find desirable and would be proud to own. Mazda certainly succeeded in creating something different from the atypical pickup truck as the BT-50 has a rather athletic look to it.

The front fascia features a familial, five-pointed, angular grille, similar to that seen on the CX-9, only larger and with an added central bar. The grille is flanked by diamond shaped headlights, a shape mirrored in the fog light apertures below. At the tip of the headlights, Mazda designers started a character line that runs along the cab, helping to give the truck that athletic stance. Although the front of the truck features relatively rakish styling, the rear is a standard pickup truck affair.

Inside the new truck, Mazda designers worked to create a space as stylish and sporty as the exterior. As such, the center console was designed to wrap around into the asymmetric instrument panel. Mazda designed the instrument panel to wraparound and envelope the driver, as in a sports car, but left the passenger side open and airy. The center console also features a raised information display, which Mazda says is a first in a compact pickup truck.

As with the new global Ranger, Mazda has no current plans to import the BT-50 to the U.S. and will sell it primarily in Australia and Europe. Give us your opinion though, should Mazda do what Ford won't and import the BT-50 to the U.S.?

Thanks to: Motor Trend