Commercial News

Ram Trucks Australia now offers an even more afforded entry point into its full-sized US pick-up truck range with the arrival of the RAM 1500 Express Black Edition for under $110,000.The Ram 1500 Express Black Edition will sit below the Rebel, Laramie Sport and Limited grades in the Ram 1500 line-up.It also undercuts rivals such as the Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra and Chevrolet Silverado. 2026 price table  Ram 1500 Express Black Edition 2026  Ram 1500 Express Black Edition engine and efficiencyThe Ram 1500 Express Black Edition is powered by the same 3.0-litre in-line six cylinder found in the Rebel and Laramie grades of the Ram 1500. The engine actually makes more power and torque than the V8 in the previous entry grade, the now-discontinued Big Horn.  2026  Ram 1500 Express Black Edition standard features‘Power bulge’ Sports bonnetBlack grilleBlack badgingBlack side mirror capsBlack door handlesBlack exhaust tipsBlack side stepsBlack 20-inch wheelsBody-coloured bumpersSpray-in bed linerDamped tailgateBed step on passenger sidePower operated sliding rear window portTinted rear windowsLED headlights and fog lightsCargo area lightCloth trimBlack interior highlightsLarge centre console with internal sliding tray8.4-inch infotainment screen7.0-inch digital instrument displayWired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto6-speaker audioSensor key with push button startRemote engine startGear selector dialElectric park brakeRear underfloor covered storage pocketsStorage space under the rear seats 2026  Ram 1500 Express Black Edition optional featuresMetallic paint $950 2026  Ram 1500 Express Black Edition safety featuresAdaptive cruise controlForward collision alert with AEBLane-keeping assistanceBlind spot monitoringRear cross-traffic alertFront and rear parking sensorsRear view camera  2026  Ram 1500 Express Black Edition Colors Diamond BlackGranite CrystalSilver ZynithBright WhiteMolten RedForged Blue2026  Ram 1500 Express Black Edition warranty Ram Truck Australia covers the Ram 1500 Express Black Edition  with a three-year/ 100,000 kilometre warranty

We’ve hit peak ute and the only way is down as Aussies abandon the diesel-guzzling workhorses.

Chinese carmaker BYD is making history as it rockets its way up the Australian sales charts that could see it finish in second place by the end of the year.Year-to-date BYD has sold 25,243 vehicles in Australia. Perennial top five seller Hyundai has recorded 25,103 so far, while Ford, the second-best selling brand in Australia last year, has managed 25,920.What’s so impressive is not just how many cars BYD selling, but the speed of its conquest of our market. This time last year BYD had sold 11,974 cars and somehow in the space of a year the brand has pushed past nearly every other carmaker in the country and looks to be headed to finishing second in 2026.The brands that still stand in BYD’s way are Kia with (27,080 cars sold so far in 2026), Mazda (27,526) and of course Toyota (59,675).Toyota is like the final big boss of the Aussie car game and BYD is one hundred per cent not going to beat it this year or possibly ever. It would be fun to entertain the idea that BYD could beat Toyota at some point in the future, but the only way that could happen is if Toyota tripped so badly in the sales race it couldn’t get back up again.We have seen huge brands rise and fall. Holden was once Australia’s top selling brand and today… well, it doesn’t exist.So Toyota’s is a lock for top spot this year, and the reality of BYD taking the silver medal is a very real possibility.That would send shock waves through the industry and mark the end of time for established brands such as Ford, which relies almost entirely on one model — the Ranger ute — to keep it on top.Ford would be anxious and brands such as Mazda, Kia and Hyundai would be feeling the heat, too.   Monthly sales for BYD show just how quickly the brand is striding ahead. In April BYD sold 7702 cars in Australia. Kia sold 6450, Hyundai 6002, Ford 5748 and Mazda 5636.Toyota, by the way, sold 15,185 cars in April.Are we living in unusual times? Interesting times, but not unusual. It seems that every 10 to 15 years a new big force arrives. Kia and Hyundai were the previous big force. Now it’s the Chinese brands' turn, and they're currently elbowing each other out the way to get to the front while the old guard scratches its head wondering what just happened. The catalyst for change has been the switch to electric cars and with Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Nissan and Mitsubishi hardly having an EV between them, Chinese brands have swooped in to offer what people want.BYD, Chery, MG, GWM, Geely and Zeekr are offering outstanding and affordable electric cars and hybrids from hatches and sedans to SUVs and utes.MG and GWM were first on the scene, and both have become a part of Australia’s automotive landscape.BYD has won over Aussies even quicker.Four years ago almost nobody in Australia had heard of BYD, or Build Your Dreams as it was known then. As motoring journalists we were aware of the new brand from China, but hardly saw it as an immediate threat to the likes of MG, which had already won over Aussies with models such as the MG ZS. Nope, in 2022 BYD appeared to be just another Chinese brand hoping to ride the wave of interest in EVs that had taken off in Australia.The popularity of BYD models such as the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute, Atto 3 small electric SUV and Sealion 7 electric SUV have been central to the brand’s success. Crucial to the brand’s continued rise is bolstering its line-up with a multitude of other models, such as the Atto 1 electric hatchback, Atto 2 electric small SUV, Sealion 5 compact plug-in hybrid SUV, Sealion 6 mid-size plug-in hybrid SUV and Sealion 8 seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV.BYD could just make it to second spot this year, but how long it can stay there is another story. Hyundai or Kia could make a comeback, but what is looking even more likely is a challenge from a fellow Chinese brand such as Chery. Chery only has five models but sold 4322 cars in April, and this year it will launch its diesel hybrid ute to rival the BYD Shark 6 and that could add an extra 1000 sales a month. Then again the ute market appears to be headed into troubled waters - again, another story for another day.For now it’s BYD time in the sun and while that might not mean being number one, number two would do.

Fuel prices are coming back down slightly at time of writing, but this whole Middle East conflict has been a massive wake-up call for all of us.Australia is as vulnerable as any country to changes in fuel supply and/or prices.But you can reduce your 4WD's fuel consumption – and thus cut your fuel costs – by better managing your driving style and your 4WD.Fuel consumption depends on many factors – including individual driving style, the conditions, the load – but there are myriad ways you can at least reduce your vehicle’s fuel consumption so that you’re ultimately forking out less at the service station.Improving fuel consumption boils down to reducing the stress on your vehicle’s engine: the less stress and strain on your engine, the better it will perform and therefore the less fuel it will use.Here are some tips to slash your fuel bills – and most of it is common sense, really.Read on.The lighter a vehicle is, generally speaking, the less fuel it should use.A whole lot of extra weight onboard your 4WD – whether that be people, gear, pets or a load of job-site tools and materials you’re actually not using on any given day – places far greater demands on the vehicle than if it was unladen, and that excess weight will result in increased fuel usage.If you use your 4WD as a daily driver or if you rarely go out bush in it any more, do away with the bullbar, winch, roof-top tent, tray canopy (if it’s easy enough to get on and off), heavy-duty spare-wheel carrier, MaxTrax (be honest: you’ve never used them), long-handled shovel etc. Delete anything and everything that adds extra bulk to your vehicle, for now at least.All of that gear adds extra weight to your vehicle and thus increases fuel consumption. Again, this is all common sense stuff.On bitumen, recommended tyre pressures on a 4WD will generally be from around 30 psi (pounds per square inch) and up but always check the tyre placard on your vehicle to make sure.Always check tyre pressure when your tyres are cold (i.e. the vehicle hasn't been driven for about three hours) and only use a tyre-pressure gauge from a reputable company, such as ARB or Ironman 4x4, to get an accurate reading to make sure you're running at recommended pressure.If your tyres are under-inflated, rolling resistance increases and so too does your 4WD’s fuel use, simple as that.For reference, Michelin’s in-house tyre experts have described rolling resistance as “the resistance experienced by your car tyre as it rolls over a surface. The main causes of this resistance are tyre deformation, wing drag, and friction with the ground. The higher the rolling resistance is, the more energy to overcome it is needed.“A 30 per cent increase in rolling resistance generates between 3 and 5% of fuel overconsumption.”Rolling resistance is decreased when a tyre’s pressure is increased.No specific PSI tyre pressure figure can be applied every time to every vehicle on every different type of terrain or in every different driving scenario. Your optimum tyre pressure will change according to the vehicle, the load onboard, the terrain your vehicle is traversing, the time of day, the amount of time you've been driving on those tyres on that day, the size and type of tyres you're using and myriad other variables.However, there are various approximate tyre-pressure ranges that work best on different terrain and if you operate within those parameters, you will be able to drive off-road sensibly and safely.Note: If you want to know how to deflate and inflate your tyres, read this yarn.Another thing to think about is unsprung weight (tyres) and rolling resistance. If you’re driving around on big heavy Mud Terrain tyres, then of course your fuel use is going to suffer, so it’s time to throw on a set of road-friendly SUV tyres or mild all-terrain tyres.Worth noting is the fact that larger wheel sizes generally decrease fuel economy due to increased the weight and rolling resistance. Steel wheels are heavier than alloys so swap those out for the time being if you want to further decrease your fuel consumption.Drive with supreme patience and consideration.This is easy to accomplish: simply delete your heavy right foot.No more hard acceleration, no stomping on the brakes – drive smoothly and safely.Unless you’re urgently delivering a heart in an esky to an awaiting transplant patient at a hospital, there’s no need to drive like your pants are on fire.As I tell my kids about driving: just imagine your job is to make sure that everyone on the road at the same time as you arrives at their destination safely – no matter how determined they appear to not want to arrive at all.As mentioned earlier, improving fuel consumption boils down to reducing the stress on your vehicle’s engine, and one of the ways to achieve this is to ensure that your vehicle is well maintained, in terms of all components, fluids, filters etc.The better your 4WD is running, the less fuel it should use.When you head out, bunch the things you have to do for the day together, so you’re doing one trip, instead a series of shorter trips, with the extra driving, stop-starting, parking etc involved in those. Common sense? Of course it is.A hybrid vehicle – one with a traditional fuel source (petrol or diesel) and electric power – is a cheaper alternative to an EV and it yields better fuel economy and less environmental impact than a standard petrol or diesel engine vehicle.Hybrids, right now, offer the best of all possible worlds; currently there are still simply so many variables involved with using an EV as your vehicle of choice in Australia – range anxiety, long distances, lack of charging stations, the actual time it takes to charge – that, outside of the city, it doesn’t make as much sense as a daily driver as a hybrid does.Hybrid powertrains are claimed to improve fuel efficiency, boost torque, improve responsiveness and overall output.Is it time you consider something like a BYD Shark 6? Yep, join the queue.

Rumours have been rife over the past few weeks that Mazda may be investigating the fully electric Deepal E07 Multitruck for Australia.And why not?With its unique design that combines the passenger compartment of a five-seat, large SUV with the versatility of a utility, the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) seems to evolve the coupe-utility formula that was so famously pioneered in Melbourne by Ford in the early 1930s.This is especially relevant at these times with spiking fuel prices and interest in electrification of all sorts booming at all-time highs in this country.In March 2026 alone, EV sales alone went from under nine per cent of total vehicle volume to nearly 15 per cent.Fanning the reports is Mazda’s decades-old relationship with Chinese partner Changan Automobile Technologies that owns Deepal, which is only now bearing fruit in this market, with the 6e EV liftback and its CX-6e EV SUV coming later in the year derived from and made by the latter brand.As such, for many speculators, a quick repurpose of the E07 Multitruck for the enormous ute segment in Australia seems like a no-brainer to new conquest buyers, especially as the Japanese company’s volumes have slipped some 12 per cent in the first three months of 2026.However, despite all the compelling arguments for an electrified ute to slip alongside the robust BT-50 diesel ute that is built and supplied by compatriot rival Isuzu, it seems almost certain that Mazda is neither developing nor intending to introduce a version of the Deepal SUV-cum-ute.“It’s not happening,” according to a Mazda Australia spokesperson speaking to CarsGuide earlier this week. “The E07 is an interesting concept, but there are no plans at all for it.“The reports are wrong.”It is difficult to argue with the facts. Firstly, just 66 examples of the E07 Multitruck were registered in the first three months on sale in Australia, suggesting most ute consumers are yet to be convinced of the concept.Secondly, with the Deepal kicking off from $65,000 before on-road costs for the RWD model and from $74,000 for the high-performance AWD version, a Mazda version would likely sit above the BT-50, competing directly with the company’s menagerie of large, premium SUVs from the CX-60 through to the three-row CX-90 flagship.And, as we have reported previously, the E07 Multitruck is a ute-ified SUV EV with a large and heavy 80kWh battery that eats into potential payload, rather than a purpose-built pick-up. It just doesn’t have the capacities and capabilities of a traditional utility – or even some SUVs.And another big, expensive SUV is not what Mazda needs right now.The flurry of stories, which went global, emanated from a roundtable in Melbourne back in March, when senior Mazda and Changan Mazda officials were asked about the possibility of launching a version of the E07 Multitruck.“We can’t talk about future product,” was the reply from Changan Mazda General Manager of Tech Development Centre and Program Manager for product development in China of CX-50, 6e and CX-6e Hiroshi Ozawa.“But I think it is a very interesting vehicle and I like that type of vehicle that opens up. And I think in Australia people may like it, but Mazda does not produce trucks on its own.“But, if there is a global need we may have to consider it as well. But not at the moment, and we are not studying such a model currently.”A nice-to-have rather than a must-have response, then, from a Japanese company that is a comparative minnow in the automotive world, with limited resources, falling sales in Australia and much more pressing new-model priorities that lay ahead.

The ute market has peaked in Australia, and some new and established workhorses could struggle.Kia Australia Chief Executive Officer Damien Meredith said the ute market appears to have peaked, with a flat result in quarter one this year showing growth will be tough to find.That spells bad news for the Kia Tasman, which was launched last year with a sales target of 20,000 per year. It is on track to sell less than 5000 in 2026, which is a a far cry from the segment-leading Ford Ranger and strong-selling Toyota HiLux and BYD Shark 6.Meredith said “of course” they were concerned about the Tasman’s performance.When quizzed if the Tasman would be here in three years if sales didn’t improve, he simply said: “I believe so”.The Tasman ute has been critically acclaimed for how it performs its duties, but Meredith said there were several issues holding back the new ute.“I think once you’re inside it, it's fantastic,” said Meredith. “I think you know the exterior of the car is very polarising. Some people love it, some people don’t. And that’s had an effect.“I think you’ve got to be upfront and honest that the competition that’s out there is quite dramatic. “When we were planning this six years ago, the competition wasn’t as great as what it is right now.“So did we plan correctly? We planned as well as we possibly could, but the competition is hot, and there’s a polarising look to the vehicle,” he said.Kia is currently the third best-selling car brand in the nation this year, but it acknowledges it needs to do more to get the Tasman in more hands.“We’ve fallen short. We know the facts,” said Meredith.“What’s happening in the world over the last 35-40 days hasn’t helped. But we can’t use that, we can’t use anything as an excuse.“The fact of the matter is we’ve got to make Tasman a better success in Australia than it is at its current level,” said.A facelift to give the Tasman more conventional styling is still at more than a year or two away, according to CarsGuide’s previous reports, but there are other levers the brand can use.Kia is a volume seller, so some sharp discounts might be on offer for the dual-cab ute in the coming months to help stimulate demand and attract fleet buyers.Kia’s headquarters has been canvassing Australian owners on how to improve the product.The Korean brand also revealed plans for a plug-in hybrid dual-cab ute for the US market, which could be a possible replacement for the slow-selling Tasman.Meredith said they have their hand up for all types of powertrains in the brand’s global armoury."We're open to everything, but first and foremost we've got to make what we've got a success."

Chinese car makers should take note: Toyota is the big boss in the Australian car industry game and its just-launched new-generation RAV4 mid-sized SUV will lead the Japanese fight back.The latest industry sales data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and EV Council suggests Chinese-sourced cars are poised to overtake their Japanese rivals in Australia for the country-of-origin title for 2026.Year-to-date sales (until the end of March) of new cars in Australia show that 77,695 cars sold were made in China (some imported by , while 71,596 were produced in Japan.That’s a 51.4 per cent increase compared to the same quarter last year for China, and a 25.4 per cent decrease for Japan.So, is this it for the Japanese giants? Is this the beginning of a fall from being the world’s largest automotive powerhouse and the country that makes the cars Aussies have bought the most for decades?Not yet, and nobody should underestimate Toyota’s strength. Because while it is clear other Japanese brands such as Honda and Suzuki have seen better days in Australia, Toyota is not about to roll over.If anything, the company has a few aces up its sleeve and one of them is the RAV4.The new-generation RAV4 just launched here in Australia in April and it’s Toyota’s not-so-secret weapon to win back Australians. In 2025 the RAV4 was the second best-selling vehicle in Australia, behind the Ford Ranger ute.That is not bad for a car which had been on sale since 2018 and was competing against much more modern, newer SUVs.The new-generation RAV4 is likely to become the number-one best-selling car in Australia in 2026.Speaking at the launch of the new RAV4, Toyota Australia CEO John Pappas announced his expectations for the SUV’s sales and said that the orders even early on were high.“Before we wholesaled the car, we had about 10,000 orders already taken,” Pappas said.“So that gives us a good indication on the demand at that early point before actually launching it.“We expect to do around 40,000 this year and then next year, we expect to do over 50,000 RAVs.”It’s a realistic number that Toyota will almost certainly hit and possibly sail past.In 2025 51,947 RAV4s were sold when it came home second in the annual sales race.The closest mid-size SUV rivals to the RAV4 in 2025 were the Mazda CX-5 (22,742 units sold), Mitsubishi Outlander (22,459), Tesla Model Y (22,239) and Hyundai Tucson (20,145).Chinese rivals such as the BYD Sealion 7 (13,410 units sold in 2025) and GWM Haval H6 (13,217) are far behind RAV4 and may not ever reach sales as high as the 50,000 Toyota expects from its mid-size SUV.The combination of Toyota’s RAV4 and its new HiLux ute, plus other popular Toyota favourites such as the Corolla, Corolla Cross, Yaris Cross Camry, Prado and LandCruiser 300 Series should comfortably see Toyota as the best-selling brand again for this year.Last year Toyota sold 239,863 vehicles in Australia, making it the best-selling car brand for 2025. And compared to its Japanese cousins such as Honda, Nissan Mitsubishi, Subaru, Suzuki, Isuzu and Mazda, Toyota is doing the heavy lifting — with those seven others accounting for a combined 300,695 sales. That’s a total of 540,558 Japanese made cars sold in Australia last year.Could the Chinese competitors outdo this with their own combined tally? The monthly sales figures for 2026 say they will and this year could be that tipping point year. But RAV4 and Hilux could stop them.Ask the same question this time next year and it’s almost certain that if the Chinese brands continue their seemingly unstoppable march, the Japanese will be beaten. The battle is not just about high volumes, but in the case of Chinese car makers it’s the vast number of different brands (22 at last count) and the proliferation of models – especially affordable electric ones. Yes, 2026 could be the last year that the Japanese brands rule Australia and a lot hinges on the RAV4’s success this year, otherwise the Chinese win might just come earlier.

BYD’s 7217 Australian new car sales in March 2026 may not sound like a huge total when the brand is shifting around 400,000 units per month globally.But those vehicles sold locally last month were enough to give BYD its first top-three finish Down Under, making it the clear leader when it comes to Chinese car brands in the market.By most counts BYD is also the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer (overtaking Tesla in 2025) and sixth in sales overall.A Fortune Global 500 company, BYD claims to have a presence in over 400 cities, in more than 70 countries across six continents with annual revenue exceeding ¥602 billion (~$123B).So, why does the brand’s growing success in Australia matter in the broader context of BYD’s ambition of global automotive domination?  First, as it was for Japanese brands getting serious about exports in the late 1950s into the ‘60s, Australia is a unique test market with a car culture incorporating a multitude of diverse elements.A historical leaning towards large, powerful vehicles, often covering substantial distances. An appetite for innovation with a ready stream of early adopters lining up for whatever’s new and different. A broad population mix, an often challenging driving environment… and a million and one other things.But the biggest factor is that impressive, steady growth since BYD entered the Australian market with the groundbreaking Atto 3 SUV in 2022.And that’s in the context of the tidal wave of more than a dozen new brands from China arriving since, turning an already cut-throat car market into a white-hot cauldron of competition. When the car-retailing cage fight kicks off the first and often easiest lever to pull is price. But so far BYD Australia has relied on new product to top the opposition, with 2026 Q1 sales up a neat 100 per cent over the same period in 2025 (17,541 units vs 8767).At the same time, the Chinese giant is widely perceived as the instigator of an intense price war in its domestic new car market, designed to apply pressure to newer, more vulnerable players among the 100-plus brands currently active in China.But the aggressive strategy has impacted its own results with year-on-year sales down 7.8 per cent (to ‘only’ 3.55 million vehicles).Net profit and net profit margin have suffered and with high tariffs effectively putting the US market off limits for now, Australia becomes a centre of opportunity as well as a rare template for export strategy development.As they say in the car business, "You never go broke making a profit", and it will be interesting to see how far BYD can climb the local sales leaderboard from its current sixth position YTD (17,541 units), with fifth-placed Hyundai (19,101), Ford in fourth 20,172) and Kia in third (20,630) already within striking distance.  

Chery sub-brand Omoda Jaecoo has signalled its desire to add a ute to its Australian line-up. Earlier this year, Chery unveiled its ‘KP31’ concept, which is scheduled to launch before the end of this year with a diesel plug-in hybrid powertrain. The brand also showed off a monocoque-chassis recreational ute concept late last year in China called 'T1TP', with local Chief Operating Officer Lucas Harris keen to bring such a product Down Under. “There have been some type approval documents and that sort of thing that people have found, which has the monocoque chassis P1TP ute,” Harris told CarsGuide previously.“It is absolutely something we are interested in. I think there is an interesting market for that,” he said.Harris went on to say this ute could fit under any of Chery's sub-brands, which includes Jaecoo, but it appears any monocoque ute would be contingent on the success of the KP31.Omoda Jaecoo’s Chief Commercial Officer in Australia Roy Munoz has put his hand up for the brand to receive a ute, and give it a different feel.It would diversify the brand’s portfolio beyond SUVs into the ute game and Munoz said Omoda Jaecoo needs a ute if it is going to compete in Australia. “Given that Chery as a group is working on the ute platform and powertrain, certainly it’s something we have access to under Omoda Jaecoo,” Munoz told CarsGuide.“Obviously Australians have a love of utes and to be a serious contender or player in Australia, you need that as part of your product portfolios.“If we can hit the market with a touch of masstige (mass market prestige) version of that, whatever that might look like, there will certainly be a market for it.“We’d love to see it. Nothing is off the table.”Jaecoo currently has three SUV models on sale in Australia, ranging from the small J5 to the mid-size J7 and the large J8. It looks like there are no plans for an Omoda Jaecoo ute to launch this year with the focus remaining on the success of the KP31 under the Chery name. 

The all-new Mitsubishi Pajero hasn't even arrived yet, and already competition in the off-road space is heating up, with Nissan at last confirming an SUV version of the Frontier Pro SUV that will put a target on the back of 4WDs in Australia.The question is, is the Nissan product about to beat Mitsubishi at its own game?Mitsubishi largely pioneered plug-in hybrid technology in Australia, but the brand has previously ruled out adapting the technology for its diesel engines. Instead, all reports point to the incoming Pajero – which is expected to use the Triton as its base – using the powertrain from the brand's ute.That means 2.4-litre bi-turbo diesel engine and eight-speed automatic, though some reports point to a plug-in hybrid petrol powertrain also being under development. Nissan, though, is set to abandon diesel, with the ute version of the Frontier Pro adopting a plug-in hybrid powertrain that would make the SUV version among the most powerful vehicles in its class.Its 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a transmission-mounted electric motor produce up to 320kW and 800Nm combined.The concept version of the SUV is to be revealed at the Beijing Auto Show, seemingly answering the question of what our market might receive in answer to the US-built (and V6-powered) Xterra.Built in partnership with Dongfeng, the SUV is reportedly built on what the group calls its Star Core platform, which can be paired with ICE, hybrid and EV powertrain options.The Frontier Pro looks set to soon be locked in for our market, with the reports pointing to an early 2027 launch date. If so, that would make the SUV version – which is being developed for export markets – a sure starter for Australia, too.Will diesel or plug-in power win the battle between Nissan and the new Pajero? Only time will tell.