Fair dinkum, it’s as if of late, all that’s on everyone’s lips is the takeover of the dual-cab ute.
Became Australia’s best-seller in 2016, now they’re used in a dramatically different way.
It ain’t farmers, miners or roadworks blokes propelling the Aussie ute craze, it’s those who use these utes for both work and play. For family duties and bush tucker expeditions, but the current batch of utes are tied to their commercial roots and pay the price for it.
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, that’s for sure.
SUVs.
ability but for city and suburban sort, the cleaner burn petrol engine and more SUV alike feel of the Maverick could be the perfect pick-me-up.
Oddly, Ford Australia is keeping tight-lipped about the Maverick. Apparently it’s too popular in the US to consider right-hand drive, for now.
A mid-size SUV is headed to Australia sometime in 2026.
Fair dinkum, the Santa Cruz is chuffing proof that the US can’t get enough of it, joinin’ forces with car-like comfort, outdoorsy good looks and, you can shift it with a decent tankful, for a reasonable price and a sweet fuel economy.
Another benefit of four-wheel drive utes is the ease of designing a hybrid system. For Hyundai and Ford, plug-in and plugless hybrids already exist in their fourwheelers. Next stop, utes with a bit of funk.
The Maverick and the Santa Cruz could blaze a trail for Honda’s entry, the Ridgeline, a rugged-lookin’ SUV-based ute.
The Ridgeline gets a bit more size and heft, line up more with the Ranger and HiLux, rather than the smaller Santa Cruz and Maverick. That could change come 2026, when its expected replacement comes out.
There are the models we haven’t seen yet. Most exciting is probably the Renault Duster Oroch – also known as the Dacia. The budget brand is looking to launch in Australia soon and a dual-cab ute could be just what they need to make a big impression quickly.
A payload capacity of 650kg is aimed for the Renault ute, well below the average figure of a dual-cab market leader but still higher than what most medium SUVs can handle.
Finally, we’d love to see Subaru come back to this segment with a revival of the Brumby – or Brat, as it’s known in North America. The ute name is an iconic Aussie vehicle and, with Subaru’s latest Outback heading in a more rugged direction, it would be a great spin-off.
As always, we’re having a yarn about this ‘new breed’ of utes as if they’re revolutionary. Truth is, they aren’t so groundbreaking here in Australia, with Ford and Holden both well-known for car-based utes.
G’day! Holden even had a crack at snagging some enthusiasm for its rugged HiLux, takin’ a bit of a punt with the lifted Crewman Cross 8 and its HSV Avalanche ripper. Toyota also had a fair dinkum with a car-based ute with the ripper X-Runner concept from 2003.
