Mazda BT-50 facelift brings sporty new look and upgrades

Mazda has unveiled a facelifted version of its third-generation BT-50 truck, improving its looks and luxury and adding some useful safety equipment.

For 2025, the pickup gets a visual makeover that adds the soul of Mazda’s Kodo sporty design language and brings the design closer to the brand’s sedans and SUVs.

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LED headlights are complemented by a new grille and a redesigned bumper, which Mazda claims features an “air curtain” to improve fuel consumption. The tailgate has a ridged design and features improved LED lights and a larger Mazda logo. The Red Earth Metallic paint seen in these images is a new color exclusive to BT, while two new colors have been added: Geode White Pearl and Sailing Blue Metallic, bringing the total number of paint options to seven.

A new 9-inch infotainment system gives the interior a new look while retaining the physical volume knob, along with a 7-inch digital instrument cluster and Android Auto can now be activated wirelessly, whereas it was previously limited to Apple CarPlay. If you prefer plug-and-play, you can now do so via a USB-C socket.

Mazda’s design team also updated the materials used in the door trim, console lid, and dashboard, and changed the brown leather on some trims to black leather. The flagship model goes a step further with the option of black and terracotta Maztex leather seat upholstery with synthetic suede and BT-50 names stitched into the front headrests.

The current BT-50 is based on the Isuzu D-Max and was launched in 2020 when safety technology was not as advanced as it is now, so Mazda used the facelift as an opportunity to redress the balance and introduce advanced technology already available on the latest Isuzu. Standard equipment such as rear cross-traffic braking, adaptive cruise and traffic sign recognition, as well as a new stereo camera at the front, double the truck’s field of view. Automatic emergency braking systems can now detect motorcycles and pedestrians at intersections, and lane-keeping technology no longer requires looking at line markings to determine where the edge of the road is.

The inherited powertrain is a 1.9-liter turbodiesel producing 148 hp (110 kW / 150 hp), while a more powerful 3.0-liter version produces 187 hp (140 kW / 190 hp). They come with either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission, sending power to the rear wheels or all four wheels, depending on the model.