Ute News

China’s JMC (short for Jiangling Motors Corporation) has confirmed it will be relaunching in the Australian market during 2026.The Chinese carmaker was previously in Australia from 2015 to 2018 with a single vehicle, the Vigus dual-cab ute, and left due to poor sales.Danny Lenartic has now been appointed as the CEO of JMC Motor Australia and is spearheading the local expansion of the dealer network. Lenartic has previously been involved in bringing JAC and MG to Australian shores.At this stage Lenartic hasn’t confirmed how many JMC dealers will be established, but the local operation will be a distributor model and not factory-backed.JMC’s first model in its latest attempt at the Australian market is a new version of the Vigus dual-cab ute.This new Vigus is completely unrelated to the previous model offered in Australia.It has already been approved for local sale and Lenartic confirmed pre-production versions are on their way to Australia for prospective dealers to view.According to the local approval filing, the Vigus is powered by a 3.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine which produces 118kW and is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission which sends drive through an all-wheel drive system.It’s unclear whether this 3.3-litre turbo-diesel engine is an error in the filing documents as the Vigus is currently only offered with either a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder or 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine in China.Other details from the filing include standard 17-inch wheels which can be upgraded to larger 18-inch rims.In China, the Vigus is offered with features like a 3.5-inch digital instrument cluster, 12.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.It’s too early for JMC to announce local pricing and specifications for the Vigus, but it’ll likely be on the budget end of the segment and compete with the likes of the GWM Cannon, JAC T9 and LDV T60, among others.At this stage it’s unclear what other JMC models could be on the cards for an Australian launch. Lenartic told CarsGuide that JMC has a vast portfolio but whatever comes here needs to be right for Australians.“Watch this space,” said Lenartic.JMC offers wide range of commercial vehicles, including utes, vans, trucks and buses. There are electric offerings, too.

Ford is looking to add new Raptor models to its lineup, according to Ford Authority.The Raptor name represents the high-performance, off-road specialist variants of Ford models.Ford’s Chief Financial Officer Sherry House said more Raptor models are in the works, at the recent Barclays Global Auto and Mobility Tech Conference."I know that some people in the audience here just had a wonderful ride in some of our Raptors, and that's a product that I think that we're going to be doing a bit more of as well," House said. “We're going to be leaning into these products that are just passion products. I mean, these are vehicles that people love.”Adding further fuel to the Raptor fire, is Ford's Dakar rally commitment to the range.The brand fielded its largest amount of Raptor-badged cars ever in the off-road race, with four factory Ford Racing Raptor T1+ full-size pick-ups and four additional privateer Raptors competing on the same core platform."Those privateer entries are a deliberate part of how we grow the Raptor ecosystem globally — sharing technology, data, and durability across customer teams who are pushing the same hardware in the same extreme conditions," Ford said in a press release before the race.There is nothing offical yet on what these new Raptor models could be.The Ranger Raptor ute is the only Ford currently on sale in Australia bearing the iconic name plate, sitting at the top of the best-selling Ranger line-up. One new possibility is a Ford Mustang Raptor. The Mustang is the best-selling sports car in Australia and the Blue Oval’s third best seller behind the Ranger ute and Everest SUV. An Everest Raptor is another possibility, but it would likely need to get the V6 petrol engine found in the Ranger Raptor.There is also a Raptor variant of the Bronco compact SUV, but the Bronco has never been officially sold in Australia. 

The Nissan D27 Navara has been one of 2025’s most hotly-anticipated new-model unveilings.Out in the first quarter of this year, it was meant to signal a rebirth for a series that has been in the doldrums since the previous generation launched in Australia in 2014.Instead, and despite a two-year-plus gap between it and the Mitsubishi MV Triton donor ute – which was new from-the-ground-up barring its 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – the level of change outside, inside and under the bonnet has been criticised as not enough by some people who were expecting unique sheetmetal, interior and powertrains.Essentially a Mitsubishi with a new face, it transpired that only the headlights, bumper, grille and tail-light lenses differ, raising questions about why Nissan took so long to bring the D27 to market.According to Nissan AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania) Region Vice President Marketing & Mobility, Arnaud Charpentier, the company wanted to ensure that the Navara’s driving experience meets Australian consumer expectations as a priority, given the (undisclosed) budget constraints they had to work within.“We started a bit after (the Triton’s Australian release) …and all those tests took us 12 months,” he said. “We probably could have launched the car before, but we wanted this local tuning made here by the region, for the region.“We had to adapt the timing for, of course, not only the tuning of the suspension, but the design took us also a bit of time to reinject the Nissan DNA onto the car.”So, was the Mitsubishi chassis set-up so bad that it put the project back nearly two years?According to Nissan Oceania Managing Director, Andrew Humberstone, there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the Triton’s suspension tune – other than it was not aligned with what a Nissan’s one should be.“It wasn't so much what the suspension was on the donor car at all,” he explained – very carefully. “It was more around, what are the needs of the car, and how do we differentiate ourselves.“It was more around listening to customers… when I first joined the Oceania team (April, 2024), I did a road show and visited the dealer network… and it was really evident to me that Australianness was a really key component. That was really important to the Australian consumer.”According to Premcar boss, Bernie Quinn, whose Melbourne-based team is responsible for the Navara’s suspension tuning and behaviour, over half a decade’s experience working on the previous version starting with the original Warrior informed what the latest version should be like.“You're getting a Navara is what I’d say first,” he said. “(The D27) has a very unique character that's been evolved from, certainly from my point of view, since my company's involvement with the Navara started with the N-Trek Warrior back in 2019, it's really evolved from that basis.“I think we really hit the nail on the head of understanding what the Australian customer does with their pick-up truck.”Quinn was quick to add that the Triton fundamentals provided a very sound base on which to differentiate it from Navara.“There are two different types of springs - the three leaf-spring and four-leaf springs, and, along with the front springs, and they carry over (from Triton), but all four dampers have changed on all variants,” he revealed.“The dampers themselves are Australian-made… they’re a bigger damper with more capability, they've got the internal rebound spring, which is sort of a newish technology, which gives us more flexibility in the tuning base to maintain comfort, but also maintain control.”Given the budget and time parameters that Premcar were working within, Quinn is confident that more than enough has changed to make the Navara feel like a Nissan ute should.“Critical to achieving that DNA, that Navara DNA, as I like to look at, was changing the dampers.“(But) it was not necessary to change other things, like springs and bump stops and suspension geometry. The (Mitsubishi) architecture is actually really, really good – long travel front suspension, a really nice setup in the rear as well, in terms of roll centres, all those sorts of things; they were pretty much where we'd like them to be.“So, it didn't necessitate, thank God, large changes to the architecture, because it's quite good. But we saw a lot of benefit from changing the dampers and going to a much larger diameter damper, internal rebound spring on the front damper.“Really, it's brought that missing Navara DNA, maybe even a little bit of Warrior DNA, into the car.”

The date December 31, 2025 marks the fifth anniversary of the end of new Holden vehicle sales.With the world reeling from Covid-19, the final Astra, Trax, Equinox, Acadia and Colorado models left GMH dealerships with a whimper not a bang.But what if General Motors HQ in Detroit didn’t pull the plug? What if the brand survived beyond 2020 and into the halcyon three years of over-demand and under-supply? We reckon it’d still be here today.Here are the international General Motors models that might have made the grade as Holdens.The 2018 Acadia represented a big gamble by Holden, going to huge expense of re-engineering and improving-upon the then-new second-gen GMC version of the Chevrolet Traverse for right-hand-drive.And why not, since, the big-selling Toyota Kluger continues to be also sourced from the US.Released in 2024, Acadia number three adopts fresh styling inside and out, GM’s VSS-S modular architecture (evolved from the previous platform), longer wheelbase for family-friendlier three-row seating and a gutsy 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol powertrain.Handsome and ultra-spacious, it looks and drives well enough to have resonated with Australian buyers.This one would have been a shoe-in for Australia.All three generations of Colorado ute sold in North America since 2004 have been unrelated to the Isuzu D-Max/Rodeo models Holden imported.Today’s US Chevy, unveiled in 2022, is big (and roomy) for a mid-sized ute, even compared to the Ford Ranger, betraying the fact that it is a scaled-down Chevrolet Silverado. And that’s no bad thing given how relatively sophisticated the latter full-sized pick-up is.And here’s a fun fact. Back in 2018, then-Holden managing director, Dave Buttner, revealed that what’s now today’s Colorado would probably have been the basis for a formidable Ranger rival, suggesting that – like the Acadia – it might already have been future-proofed for right-hand drive.Plus, as the current US engine choice is a 2.7-litre four-pot turbo petrol unit, Australia’s sizeable 4x4 dual-cab ute segment may have dictated a diesel application.Ah, what might have been…A product of GM Korea that grew from the ashes of GM Daewoo, the original Trax was derived from the Opel Corsa platform that also provided the basis of the final Holden Barina supermini. It was an early and successful example of a city-sized Light SUV.The second-gen Trax, again from Korea, is based on a small/medium scalable version of VSS-S, and is powered by either a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo or 1.5-litre four-pot turbo depending on sourcing, as it is also built in China with SAIC.Obviously larger and sleeker than the first version, Trax II is a smartly-styled and spacious alternative to the Chery Tiggo 4 and Haval Jolion, and would likely resonate with Aussie consumers.Barely a year old in its US home market, the fourth-gen Equinox is yet another variation of GM’s ubiquitous VSS-S platform, and remains a Toyota RAV4 challenger.To that end, the redesigned medium SUV offers a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) option in some markets to the standard 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol powertrain. There’s also an EV version.And, since GM does not seem to offer a world-class small car…Sadly, GM doesn’t seem to know or care about making great B- and C-segment hatchbacks.And since this is a fantasy scenario, we’re inclined to think that the alt-universe Holden might want to have continued its association with the Stellantis-owned Opel/Vauxhall and offer the known and respected Corsa and its larger Astra stablemate lines.Now, the Opel Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo may or may not preview the next-gen supermini due in about 2028, but clearly, away from GM stewardship, the decades-old Opel/Vauxhall smaller cars are flourishing.

Mitsubishi has just slapped a new face on its popular Triton workhorse, but there’s a catch.The new look ute is a special edition only available in Thailand, dubbed the Mega Cab Street Edition. But could it point to a future new look Aussie version?Thailand is where the majority of Aussie-bound utes are built, and the South-East Asian nation is more mad for utes than Aussies, so they sometimes get special treats not for us.It is still very rare that a model gets a completely new face for one variant, which could point to a future facelift for the polarising-looking ute.The current Triton was launched in Australia in early 2024, which means it isn’t due for a proper facelift for a few years yet, but the company might tweak its styling to help boost sales.The biggest change is a new front grille. The Street Edition ditches the three slate grille design of the standard Triton for a blacked-out layout that has shades of the brand’s diamond badge theme.The front lighting signature varies slightly with the bottom fog lights featuring a tweaked shape. And the coloured highlights connecting the three levels of front lighting are gone, too.The lower bumper has been changed to black rather than body colour, which combined with the black grille gives it a meaner look.There aren't the same chrome highlights which feature on several Aussie delivered models.Thai-delivered vehicles are less well equipped than Australian versions, and the Street Edition is a base low-riding version. This means there isn’t much to crow about.It has 17-inch black alloy wheels, and it is only available with a Mega Cab layout, which is a two seat cabin with a sizeable storage area behind (usually called extra cab in Aus).Mitsubishi and other big-name ute makers are under pressure from a wave of new, affordable models arriving from China.These models are often updated very quickly in response to customer demand and feedback, which may force some more established rivals to follow suit and make running changes to vehicles outside the four to five year mid-life update schedule.

Ram has confirmed the return of its most powerful variant in the Ram 1500 range, the SRT TRX.

A ute from Hyundai could be in the works and it might signal a new direction for the brand.

A Chinese ute has had its price slashed just months after entering the Australian market.The LDV Terron 9 will now be available from $47,990, drive-away, until 31 March 2026, which equates to $3000 off its original price.The dual-cab ute was previously on sale for $50,990, drive-away for ABN holders.It launched in 2025 with a special promotion $49,990 drive-away price tag, meaning this is not the first time it has been discounted.The price discount means the Terron 9 undercuts its fellow Chinese rival the MG U9, which starts from $52,990, drive-away.The Terron 9's sales figures already trump that of the MG U9, but it still falls well short of the main market leaders, such as the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger which offer a greater number of variants.The Terron 9 has had a tough time breaking into the hyper-competitive ute market with just 513 sales in its first year (having hit showrooms mid-year) in 2025.General manager of LDV Australia Dinesh Chinnappa said offering a ute under $50,000 is important in a competitive market.“With the Terron 9 we are giving customers more space, more comfort, more technology and more value,” said Mr Chinnappa.“We know the sub-$50,000 price point is hugely competitive in the ute market and we are pleased to be able to offer this price range for a limited time while we clear 2025-built inventory.”It has a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine producing 163kW and 520Nm.There is an eight-speed automatic transmission with a four-wheel drive system.On the inside the Terron 9 features dual 12.3-inch digital driver and central touchscreen displays.The Terron 9 is the bigger of LDV's two ute offerings, with the smaller T60 Max, starting from $45,253, drive-away.An electric version of the Terron 9, the eTerron 9, is targeted for a 2026 launch in Australia.2026 LDV Terron 9 pricing until March 31

Amid the seemingly endless influx of new cars coming our way there are some that are simply more important than others.

The Toyota HiLux is entering what might be the most important year in its history, with the deck never so heavily stacked against what was once Australia's best-selling vehicle.