Utes are standing in the way of a cleaner Australia: Why we need the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and other pick-ups to change - now | Opinion

‘Utes should be banned in Australia’ - it’s a notion about as popular as disconnecting the internet. But before you fire up in the comments section and bristle at the notion of ‘banning utes’, don’t panic, this isn’t one of those stories.

Because let’s be blunt - the ute isn’t going anywhere. Especially not in Australia where we bought more than 20,000 (20,725, to be precise) in the first three months of 2023. The Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max were the three best-selling vehicles in March, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ (FCAI) sales data.

The problem is, around the same time the FCAI released that sales data, it also announced the findings of its 2022 voluntary emissions reductions standards.

Read More About Toyota HiLux

Ford Ranger Electric: What to expect from the all-electric version of the Toyota HiLux rival It's coming! 2024 BYD electric and hybrid ute readying its Aussie launch to take on Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux What we know so far about the incoming hybrid utes: Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and others coming soon

The good news from that report is the emissions from passenger cars and light SUVs were down more than 10 grams per kilometre compared to 2021 levels; from 146g/km CO2 to 131g/km. That shows that both car companies and consumers are looking to make cleaner, greener choices if they’re available.  

The news wasn’t so good for heavy SUVs and light commercial vehicles, the segment that includes utes, because despite the industry trying to reduce emissions the average actually went up in ‘22 - from 212.5g/km to 212.8g/km. The even bigger issue is the target the FCAI set for heavy SUVs and LCVs was 189g/km of CO2, so the industry came up well short of expectations.

FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber, admitted that the results came in the face of the difficulties the Australian market has in attracting more electric and other low-emissions vehicles that will appeal to local buyers. As a result of the limited availability of EVs globally, car makers tend to focus on getting what cars they can build to the more advanced markets (primarily Europe and the USA), which leaves Australia dropping further and further behind.

A whopping 20,725 utes were purchased in Australia during the first three months of 2023.

“Globally, there is currently a limited supply of batteries and supporting technology to meet the demand for all new vehicles and in particular, the bigger vehicles which a large proportion of Australians choose to buy,” Weber said.

“Development work is being undertaken by car makers across the world to overcome these challenges. However, we are not likely to see a significant improvement in the availability of these vehicles at prices many Australians can afford until at least the end of this decade.”

The real problem here is that although we made progress with passenger cars and light SUVs, the inability to get towards cleaner heavier vehicles, particularly utes and large SUVs, will always hold Australia back as we push towards being net carbon zero by 2050. Why? Because the FCAI standards are voluntary.

We were more than 23g/km behind the target set by the local industry last year and the consequences are… what? Nothing. It’s a voluntary target, so there is no punishment or incentive to improve.

The ute isn’t going anywhere, especially not in Australia.

And to be frank, it’s hard to blame the FCAI. The car industry is doing what it can with its voluntary plan but without any clearly defined boundaries by government, change will come slowly as its driven primarily by consumer preference.

As our consumer preference is clearly towards utes and large SUVs - which made up four of the top-10 selling vehicles in March - so the problem only gets harder to fix.

What Australia desperately needs are cleaner utes, maybe not all-electric but certainly hybrid options, such as the long-rumoured Ford Ranger hybrid. This type of vehicle that can help bridge the gap between our current dependency on these (predominantly) diesel-drinking load luggers and a more efficient and cleaner future.

A wholesale switch to electric utes simply won’t work for Australia because while there are unquestionably plenty of urban dwellers driving utes for the tax break and the lifestyle look, there are an equal or greater amount of tradies, farmers and their ilk. These types of buyers need something that can tow, haul a load and, most importantly of all, still be filled up at a service station. 

It’s up to the Federal and State Governments to push through legislation and incentives that will force cleaner utes sooner rather than later.

Hybrid utes, be it plug-in or conventional, will help get us from our current state of seemingly unmovable emissions to a cleaner future. But as the FCAI report shows, the voluntary system isn’t working, so it’s up to the Federal and State Governments to push through legislation and incentives that will force cleaner utes sooner rather than later.

And why not, because the government has had no issue incentivising utes to workers via the generous tax breaks, so why not use that same attitude to push for cleaner vehicles across all segments and sizes in Australia. 

As I said at the beginning, banning utes (or any single type of vehicle for that matter) isn’t a realistic solution - nor an appropriate one. But what the government can do is create conditions in Australia that help to get cleaner, more fuel-efficient utes into showrooms to give consumers the option to make a choice for themselves.