The Isuzu MU-X has been awarded second place in the 4X4 Of The Year Award (4x4OTY) at the 2018 Australian Motoring Awards.

The annual 4X4OTY award involves rigorous testing of the best all-new or significantly revised four-wheel drives from the last 12 months. This year the week-long 4X4OTY test procedure involved set-piece off-road, rocky trail driving, general long-distance touring on a variety of roads, seating tests (including the third-row where fitted), and under-bonnet and load-area inspections.

As always, the 4x4OTY contenders are scored against a set list of criteria – value for money, breaking new ground, built tough, bushability and doing the job it’s designed to do – and after the votes were tallied, the MU-X narrowly missed 1st place by only 2 points. 

Coming in ahead of competition from Jeep, Land Rover (Discovery TD6), Mercedes-Benz and Haval, the MU-X impressed the judges with its new ‘pumped-up’ engine - a Euro5 emission compliant 3.0 litre 4JJ1-TC Hi-Power turbo-diesel powerplant.

“(The MU-X) came home strongly off the back of its robust and simple ute-based design and proven powertrain. It’s a good all-rounder too, happy enough both on and off the road, and simply does what’s asked of it without fuss. And all at a very reasonable asking price” stated Fraser Stronach, 4x4 Australia.

“If someone asked me what car are you going to jump into, not worry about it, take it round Australia, it’s going to be that (the MU-X)” added Norm Needham, 4x4 Australia.

Released in May 2017, the stylish new-look model has an extensively refined interior complemented by an impressive array of safety features. Thanks to the abundance of low-down torque on tap, the MU-X makes for a confident towing partner but is equally at home offroad, with impressive ground clearance, affording these models true rugged off-road performance.

The 7-seat MU-X has continued to impress customers, achieving 8,087 sales in 2017. In fact the MU-X was the number 1 selling ute-based SUV nationally, outselling Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Ford Everest, Holden Trailblazer and Toyota Fortuner.

“We are particularly proud of the success of the MU-X in an extremely competitive market.” commented Isuzu UTE Australia’s Managing Director, Mr. Hiro Kuramoto. “We are excited to see that the updated MU-X has really hit the mark with our consumers.”

“Customer satisfaction and loyalty is the key to our ongoing success,” he continued “with many happy owners now transitioning into a newer model as well as increasing numbers of new customers being referred. This award is testament to the quality of the product, and reconfirms our reputation for performance, dependability and value.”

Ron Moon from 4x4 Australia sums it up perfectly “If I had to pick one to do a lap around Australia, it'd be the MU-X".

Click here for a full overview of the MU-X.