Heavy vehicle transmission manufacturer Allison Transmissions has confirmed it is the specified transmission provider for all 6-cylinder vehicles in Isuzu Australia’s new MY25 F Series truck range.
The major global manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty fully automatic transmissions is building on its long-standing relationship with Isuzu, who has launched its first completely new range in 18 years.
Orders of the specified model groups, including a variety of medium and heavy-duty trucks, will come exclusively equipped with an Allison 2000 Series™, Allison 3000 Series™ or Allison 4000 Series™ transmission depending on the engine power, application or duty-cycle.
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The all-new rage includes Isuzu’s highest capacity vehicles on offer in the FX and FY models that come in 4×2, 6×2, 6×4 and 8×4 configurations with an Isuzu 9.8L 259kW engine and a high-capacity Allison 4430 Gen 6 transmission to accommodate engines with power ratings of up to 800hp and torque of 3,200Nm.
At the recent Brisbane Truck Show, three 6-cylinder F Series models were on display, with FV and FX models arriving at Isuzu truck dealerships this month ahead of other models being supplied to market later this year.
“It was a pretty easy decision when you look at the trends in transmission sales over the past two decades,” Isuzu Australia head of product management and commercial vehicle chief engineer Simon Humphries says.
“Back in 2003 the market share of manual transmissions was about 97 per cent. We introduced Allison a few years later alongside other AMT options, and fast-forward 20-odd years and the market share of fully automatic and AMT is now around 90 per cent, with 97 per cent of the high-performing 6-cylinder models equipped with fully automatic Allisons.”
Humphries says the decision to spec Allison across the 6-cylinder range ultimately came down to customer preference and demand.
“We’ve enjoyed a very good relationship with the Allison team for a long time and the product is very highly regarded in Australia, where drivers and fleet operators prioritise driveability, performance, reliability and low maintenance,” he says.
“Particularly for the key industries that we target with these F Series models, such as waste, concrete agitators, emergency services, heavy construction and general distribution. The 2000 Series and 3000 Series transmissions in the medium duty sector and the heavier duty applications using the 4000 Series have no issue with heavy duty cycles. The dealers enjoy them because basically nothing goes wrong, and the fleet managers know these vehicles can handle both novice and experienced drivers alike.
“We could have selected an AMT in the heavier applications but in the Australian heavy-duty-cycle context, the market strongly prefers a torque converter Allison automatic transmission. Most of the comments we get from people coming directly out of these big trucks is that it’s just like driving a car.”
While Isuzu once again topped sales across the Australian trucking market in 2024 (for the 36th year in a row), an interesting area of growth was Isuzu’s share of 14.5 per cent of the heavy-duty truck category (up from 13.6 per cent in 2023) – predominantly powered by Allison.
“Isuzu is now in the top three in the heavy-duty segment without any prime movers on the market – and the vast majority (97 per cent) of those are three or four axle rigid trucks equipped with an Allison Transmission,” Allison Transmission Australian sales manager Robert Cavagnino says.
“The teams from both Isuzu and Allison in Japan and Australia have continued to work closely for many years and we’re proud this collaboration has contributed to Isuzu’s ongoing success.
“It was great to see the new trucks on show in Brisbane, and we’re committed to continue to innovate alongside our OEM partners to meet the growing transport needs of the local market.”
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