Isuzu helps customers avoid a £5,000 fine

An Isuzu breakthrough could help customers avoid a fine of up to £5,000 for not having a digital tachograph when towing.

And the Rodeo one-tonne pickup may be the only vehicle of its type to comply with new legislation, giving it a huge commercial advantage over key competitors.

Since 1 May anyone towing for hire or reward with a gross train weight of 3,500 kg is required to have a tamper-proof digital tachograph which uses a credit card-type record to monitor driving hours and journey times.

This means even a small trailer would exceed the 3,500 kg limit, affecting customers such as plant hire operators or those in the construction industry.

Rodeo owners can contact tachograph supplier VDO Siemens – which has more than 1,000 agents throughout the country – for the unit.

This uses an encrypted sender unit fitted to the gearbox which Isuzu has already designed to be tachograph-compatible.

Isuzu technical spokesman, Adrian Hogg, said: "To the best of our knowledge, Isuzu is the only pickup manufacturer to offer this facility. This is partly due to our expertise in the big truck market where tachographs of this type have been mandatory for some time.

"Any manufacturer unable to accept the encrypted sender unit faces considerable re-engineering work so we are expecting extra business as a result."
The best-selling Rodeo Denver 3.0 litre diesel turbo offers a braked, 3,000 kg towing limit and a 1,000 kg-plus payload.

Winner of countless awards for being the most-car-like one-tonner on the market, the Rodeo features a four-door, five-seat body and generous equipment such as air-conditioning, electric windows, ABS with EBD, alloy wheels and a radio/CD/MP3 player.

Service intervals are a lengthy 12,000 miles including oil change and the warranty is a ‘bumper-to-bumper’ three year/60,000 miles plus six years’ anti-perforation cover.

Rodeo owners also benefit from full membership of Isuzu Assistance which provides three years’ cover comprising ‘at home’, roadside and European repair or recovery.