BT-50 no more: Mazda finally closes the curtain on its bakkie in South Africa

The Mazda B Series bakkie has a rich legacy in South Africa, and it's always been considered a great, reliable workhorse.

When it made a comeback to the local market in 2021, the BT-50 was a stunning vehicle at first glance but, sadly, it probably launched at the wrong time. The pricing wasn't right, and neither was the specification. When launching a bakkie in a bakkie-mad country, these two factors are crucial.

Even though top-end bakkies are priced at well more than R1 million, think Ranger, high-spec Hilux models, and even the Volkswagen Amarok, the BT-50 could not even compare to previous versions of the vehicles listed.