Australia’s two top–selling vehicles are the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, with the ute market accounting for a huge slice of Australia’s new car market, so why are brands so afraid to try something different?
Utes account for around one in five new car sales in Australia, and medium SUVs sell in slightly higher numbers, accounting for another fifth of new car sales each year.
Which begs the question, why is no one willing to blend the two together?
Australia’s ute market is comprised almost entirely of body-on-frame utes. Basic commercial vehicle origins, resulting in rugged vehicles designed for heavy-duty use.
While for many buyers, the ability of a dual-cab that can switch between jobsites Monday to Friday, and head out in search of adventure with the family on the weekend, is an asset. For others, it’s much more than they’ll ever need.
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While it’s true that Aussies love active weekends, sporting pursuits, and DIY projects, the scale of those activities is often out of whack with the vehicles offered here.
The data is a little old, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last compiled a report in 2021 that revealed 73 per cent of Aussies live in capital cities, and that 90 per cent of Australians reside in what’s classified as an urban area.
Think about that. Australia is a huge country, but the bulk of the population has to deal with the tight confines of side-by-side housing, apartment living, and the always frustrating experience of securing a car park at a busy shopping centre on the weekend.
So, are heavy dual-cab utes that can often stretch up to 5.5 metres in length the right choice?
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The only alternative available in Australia is the Deepal E07, and it breaks the ute mould in a number of ways.
It’s not built on a ladder frame chassis, but rather a car-like monococque chassis, making it more like a medium SUV.
It’s also electric, rather than diesel-powered. It’s marketed as a ‘Multitruck’ but in reality it’s about as far from a truck as you’ll find, with a plastic-lined rear section that’s really more like an SUV with a roof you can move out of the way.
But the Deepal is a promising sign of change in the segment. Deepal is only a minor player in Australia though, so why aren’t other brands willing to take a gamble?
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In the North American market, two candidates stand out: The Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz.
The Maverick is built on the same chassis as the Escape SUV that Ford used to sell here until 2023.
It’s smaller and lighter than an Everest, and it has an interior filled with clever touches, including a range of mounting points for users to develop their own attachments, alongside a range of 3D-printable parts that Ford offers downloadable files for.
With turbo petrol or hybrid engines, the Maverick should feel more at home on city streets, although its size is still just over five metres, making it about as long as a three-row SUV.
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Hyundai’s take on the formula is heavily based on the Tucson SUV, with the Santa Cruz sharing some bodywork with Hyundai’s medium SUV.
It’s a little smaller than the Maverick, and lacks a hybrid option, but for buyers with a regular roster of Bunnings trips and Facebook Marketplace purchases, the Santa Cruz could be an ideal fit.
Both cars are sold as left-hand drive only, ruling them out for an Australian introduction, but their donor platforms are entirely compatible with an Australian introduction, with right-hand drive versions of the Tucson and Escape making their adaptation to the Australian market relatively simple.
South America also has access to a number of potential candidates.
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Vehicles like the Fiat Toro, Volkswagen Saviero, and Ram Rampage all blend car- or SUV-based platforms with the versatility of a rear load bed, in a package that undercuts those of most utes in Australia.
If the recipe sounds familiar, it’s not too different from what Australian-built utes like the Ford Falcon, and Holden Commodore and Crewman used to provide. The evolutionary step that somehow got missed in Australia.
The list goes on in the South American region, too. It’s not a couple of brands taking a punt, it’s a firm vehicle category with cars like the Chevrolet Montana and Renault Duster Oroch essentially positioned as spiritual successors to the Proton Jumback, the last compact ute sold in Australia.
Which begs the question, with the global engineering might of these automakers, and the seemingly unending appetite for utes in Australia, why aren’t brands prepared to take a chance on the kinds of utes that would be a perfect fit here?
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