Isuzu's more recent commercials have ended with the declaration "we don't make cars." That statement could use expansion. The last Rodeo and Axiom SUVs rolled off the assembly line on a hot Indiana Friday last July, following by two years the closure of the Consumer Reports-scarred Trooper. Honda stopped ordering Isuzu bodies to dress up as Passports and Acura SLXs once they figured out how to make their own SUVs. If you're aching for a genuine Isuzu, you'll need to start looking into a new career - say, in the plumbing, construction, or towing industry.If all you need is the badge, however, Isuzu dealers still have an SUV to sell you called the Ascender, which ascended from the Chevy TrailBlazer. It's rugged, it's proven, and its body sits on a ladder frame, but would Joe Isuzu approve? Almost everything was carried over from the TrailBlazer with only a mild disguise. Not even the Rodeo's impressively powerful direct-fuel-injection V6 lived to see a second season; the Ascender's 4.2-liter DOHC inline six and 5.3-liter OHV V8 are direct GM transplants. Also shared with the TrailBlazer and the GMC Envoy (but not the Buick Rainier or departed Oldsmobile Bravada) is the optional extended-length body style for seven-passenger seating, which is the subject at hand.