The all-new Isuzu D-Max made its global debut last Friday in Bangkok. Key changes of Isuzu’s latest pick-up have already been covered in our launch story but the product videos released by Isuzu Thailand yesterday revealed several more bits of information that weren’t covered previously.

We now learned that the all-new D-Max’s air-conditioning system also features a PM 2.5 filter, the same type of medical grade filters used by hospitals and anti-haze air filters.

There are many air-conditioning systems that claim to have air cleaning functions but unless it uses PM 2.5 filters, it won’t work against 2.5 micron size fine particulate matter pollutants, the type of pollutants that’s responsible for our annual haze. It's also why you need N95 face masks to deal with haze.

Other notable car models with PM 2.5 air filters are the Proton X70 and all Volvo models.

To recap, the all-new D-Max retains the same the same BluePower Ddi engine as before - available in 1.9-litre and 3.0-litre capacity. It does however, ride on a new Dynamic Drive platform that’s said to be 23 percent stiffer.

The ladder frame chassis is paired to a set of new suspensions all around. Although it’s still running on double wishbones at the front and leaf springs at the rear, the setup and structural design are new.

Water wading depth is now at 800 mm, identical to the Ford Ranger.

It also comes with a significantly higher set of active safety and convenience features. Among the features demonstrated in the video are the remote engine start, rear-cross traffic alert, blind spot monitor and emergency stop signal.

Although the all-new Isuzu D-Max is on sale in Thailand, we don’t expect the model to be launched in Malaysia anytime soon, at least not within the next 2 years.

Recall that the current generation Isuzu D-Max sold in Malaysia was updated with the new BluePower Ddi engine just last month, even though the engine has been introduced in Thailand since 2015.

The delay was also due to additional development work required to make the engine compatible with our higher sulphur Euro 2M diesel, which now also has a 10 percent blend of palm oil.

As the Isuzu D-Max is a locally-assembled model, some lead-time is required before local assembly of the all-new model can commence at Isuzu Malaysia’s vehicle assembly facility in Pekan.