With the holidays in full swing, our natural course was to get busy... unwinding ourselves.

As we prepared to close the year and set our sights for 2025, we got a series of photos from an eagle-eyed reader. Ardel Joe Mark Magnaye sent us an image and a short video of a car transporter loaded with what appears to be the updated 2025 Isuzu mu-X.

We check out the newly updated Isuzu D-Max and mu-X with the new 2.2-liter RZ4F-TC engine at the Thailand International Motor Expo #autoindustriya #liveandbreathecars #isuzu #isuzudmax #isuzumux

Posted by AutoIndustriya.com on Friday, November 29, 2024

As you may know, Isuzu Philippines has always had a strategy of regularly updating and upgrading their vehicles. That's the game plan that works for their segment, as the company really only has two models intended for private family use: the D-Max and the mu-X. Well, they also have the Traviz, but utility vans generally don't need updating given the purpose and pricing.

With this sighting, we expect the updated Isuzu mu-X to debut sometime in early 2025. We saw this updated mu-X at the 2024 Thailand International Motor Expo last month and did a quick walkthrough.

While the Philippine-spec model will likely differ in some ways, what we can expect is that the exterior changes here will be quite similar, if not identical. The 2025 Isuzu mu-X RS refresh in Thailand features a sportier face with a black honeycomb grille, fender "vents", dynamic-blade LED DRLs, and a new set of horizontal bar-type taillamps. It is finished off with a set of 20-inch aggressive-looking "turbine-inspired" alloy wheels.

The interior of the Thai-spec mu-X gets refreshed with a new massive multi-info display, redesigned seat cushions for a more comfortable ride, and new ambient lighting on higher-grade models for that added appeal.

There's a new infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto available in the range, a smart tailgate, a 360-degree camera system for extra security, and a suite of intelligent driver aids. Given that Isuzu already offers ADAS here, we can expect adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning & automatic emergency braking, automatic high beam, lane-keeping assist, lane departure warning with prevention, traffic jam assist, rear-cross traffic alert, and blind-spot monitoring in the top-spec models.

What is really a mystery is whether Isuzu Philippines will offer the new 2.2L DDi turbodiesel "MaxForce" powerplant under the RZ4F-TC code which succeeds the 1.9-liter RZ4E-TC BluePower engine. The new engine has a displacement of 2164cc, a compression ratio of 15.9:1, and an electronic variable geometry turbo (E-VGS). The result is a total system output of 163 PS at 3600 rpm and 400 Nm of torque at 1600 – 2600 rpm.

Isuzu Philippines officials have been tight-lipped when we talked to them about the updated mu-X recently. We'll update you as soon as we know more about the Philippine-spec mu-X update for 2025.