Not D-Max: Is Isuzu PH selling this pick-up here?

While we were traveling along Quezon Avenue on the way to work, we came across a rather unusual-looking pick-up truck. At a closer glance, we were surprised it was wearing an Isuzu badge.

As far as we can understand, Isuzu Philippines is only offering the D-Max for the midsize pickup truck segment. So what could this be? A quick research led us to find out that it's actually a Qingling Taga.

Apparently, Qingling is a Chinese truck manufacturer that went on a joint venture with Isuzu when the latter had its interests in the Chinese market. As a result, the Taga is indeed sharing a lot in common with the D-Max.

Apart from the obvious side profile design, the Qingling Taga is also powered by the 4JJ3-TCX engine, albeit detuned at 143 PS and 320 Nm of torque. Also, based on the information we gathered, it's only mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

However, the striking feature we've noticed upon spotting the Taga is that it's a lot longer than the D-Max. The latter measures almost 5.3 meters long; the Taga could be hovering close to F-150 territory in terms of length.

Now the question is, who brought the Taga to the country? As far as we know, it's not from Isuzu Philippines Corporation. Instead, the Taga could have been brought by a gray market importer. We'll keep our eyes peeled for more information about this new pickup truck.