Latest In Class Action Against Isuzu Australia Over Emissions Claims

Owners of popular Isuzu D-Max utes and MU-X SUVs allege in the statement of claim that the vehicles were fitted with so-called "defeat devices" that allowed them to emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) at levels above regulatory limits during normal driving. The legal move, filed by law firm Piper Alderman on behalf of Geoffrey Fisher and CDR Geotechnical ⁘ Environmental Services Pty Ltd, represents people who acquired certain 2017 or later Isuzu D-Max vehicles and 2016 (MY16.5) or later MU-X models between January 1, 2016 and August 14, 2024. The claim argues that these vehicles, sold through Isuzu Ute Australia and its dealers, contained software or hardware that affected emissions performance outside official test conditions.

The applicants contend that Isuzu misled consumers by representing the vehicles as complying with Australia's emissions standards when, they say, they did not. They also allege breaches of statutory guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law and claim Isuzu engaged in unconscionable conduct. The central claim is that the presence of defeat devices led to excessive NOx emissions, which can be harmful to health and the environment.

Piper Alderman and litigation funder Woodsford are seeking compensation – including both reduction-in-value and compensatory damages – for group members. Reduction-in-value damages could be significant where vehicles retain their original owners at the time of any court judgment or settlement. Isuzu has filed defences to both the original and amended statements of claim, disputing the allegations and saying, among other things, that applicable technical regulatory provisions are met, and contesting claims about the operation and effect of the vehicles' emission control systems.

The Federal Court has scheduled the next case management hearing before Justice Owens for March 5, 2026. Group members have until April 8, 2026 to opt out of the class action if they choose, with opt-out notices being distributed by court-approved channels. Alternative viewpoints and findings: Check here

How the Automobile Redefined the World

The Metal Pulse of 1886

Steel remembers.

When Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen in 1886, he wasn't just assembling pipes and a single-cylinder engine; he was crafting a mechanical skeleton that would eventually carry the weight of human ambition across the silent borders of the known world. It was a fragile, three-wheeled creature that sputtered through the streets of Mannheim, sounding very much like a nervous heartbeat echoing against the cold stone of a century that was rapidly losing its grip on the slow pace of horse-drawn logic. The air smelled of burnt oil and possibility.

Space collapsed.

Before this moment, distance was a physical weight one carried in their bones, but the sudden ignition of internal combustion transformed the horizon from a distant, unreachable mural into a tangible destination that one could reach simply by pressing a lever. We began to view the world through a frame of moving glass.

The Democratization of the Horizon

Ford saw souls.

In 1908, the Model T emerged from the Highland Park plant not as a luxury for the elite but as a sturdy, black-painted bridge connecting the isolated farmer to the flickering lights of the city. Henry Ford understood that the true power of a machine lies in its ability to become invisible, allowing the driver to focus instead on the rhythm of the road and the peculiar, haunting beauty of a sunset that arrives faster than expected. The assembly line was a mechanical symphony.

Cities breathed differently.

The geography of our lives shifted from the vertical density of tenements to the horizontal sprawl of suburbs, a transition that allowed people to reclaim a sense of quietude while still tethered to the electric hum of urban progress. It was as if the world had suddenly grown larger and more intimate all at once.

Between the lines

Memory is fluid.

Inside the cabin of a car, time functions with a different set of physics where the past is visible in the rearview mirror and the future is a ribbon of asphalt unfolding under the hypnotic glow of the headlights. There is a specific kind of loneliness that exists only in the driver's seat, a peaceful, meditative solitude where the hum of the tires on the pavement becomes a substitute for conversation. We find ourselves in the movement.

The car is a vessel for secrets.

It is the only place where we can be truly alone while moving through a crowd, a private sanctuary of leather and plastic that shields us from the rain while we listen to jazz on a radio frequency that seems to originate from a different dimension entirely. This intimacy with the machine creates a silent dialogue between the human heart and the steel pistons.

The ripple effect

Asphalt changed everything.

The proliferation of the automobile necessitated the creation of a vast, interlocking web of highways that functioned like the circulatory system of a giant, sleeping organism, pumping people and goods to the furthest reaches of the continent. It gave birth to the diner, the drive-in theater, and the roadside motel—liminal spaces where strangers meet for a cup of coffee and a brief exchange of glances before disappearing back into the flow of traffic. This connectivity fostered a new type of empathy.

The world became reachable.

Because we could move, we could understand each other better, crossing cultural divides with the turn of a steering wheel and realizing that the person in the next lane is chasing the same elusive dream of home. The automobile didn't just move our bodies; it expanded the radius of our compassion by making the "other" someone we could visit by dinner time.