Ute News

Slate Auto, a new electric car company backed by tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, has just launched its first vehicle in the United States.

If any publicity is good publicity, Kia Australia must be rapt with the public’s response to the Tasman ute.

Hot on the heels of the Ford Ranger Super Duty, is a Super Duty version of the Everest in the pipeline?With the upcoming GMC Yukon Denali the new SUV towing champion in Australia at 3628kg – pipping out the Toyota LandCruiser, Isuzu MU-X, Ineos Grenadier, Toyota Prado and regular Everest amongst others by just 128kg – a new high watermark has been set.In contrast, the newly-announced Ranger Super Duty breaks new ground among medium-sized utes by offering a 4500kg braked towing capacity, suggesting that an Everest Super Duty may have the might to approach that, given its kinship to the Ranger.When asked if a more rugged, go-anywhere workhorse version of the Everest was under consideration, Ford Australia President and CEO Andrew Birkic did not dismiss the notion.“I don't think we've done that yet,” he told the media at Ford Australia’s Centennial anniversary in Melbourne earlier this month.“But you never say never.”Other Ford engineers were less forthcoming, but suggested that the Everest’s transformation from ride/handling/refinement-focused family SUV to a Super Duty-style 4x4 workhorse would be an “extremely challenging” task.While both the Ranger and Everest share the same T6.2 ladder-frame platform, they differ in the mid and rear chassis sections, chiefly to accommodate the latter’s second and third row occupant structures, as well as its coil-sprung rear suspension set-up.With beefier springs and dampers, as well as a solid-axle leaf-sprung rear suspension design out back, the Ranger was already better suited for its transformation to Super Duty compared to the Everest.It’s also worth keeping in mind that a large portion of the Ranger Super Duty’s expected consumer base will be from the emergency services, forestry, mining and agricultural sectors, necessitating the ute’s cab-chassis flexibility.Still, Ford is in the business of making money in Australia, and so if there is demand for an Everest Super Duty, it will investigate that from a business case perspective.Obviously, being the first ex-factory mid-sized ute of its type anywhere in the world to offer a 4500kg braked towing capacity, even the Blue Oval bosses have no real idea how the market will react to it.Finally, at the same Ford Centenary event, Ford Motor Company Chief Executive, William Clay Ford Jr., did extol the Australian-based T6.2 team’s unique capabilities and talents, so who knows what may come next?“We have so much opportunity in front of us, and you know, we've made Australia a Centre of Excellence for Ford,” the brand’s global number one exec said.“They've done a great job. Just look at the sales results of Ranger and Everest… and Ranger is now (sold in) 180 different countries, which is incredible.“So, yeah, this is a great team here, and they will have opportunity in the future.“This is a unique market, as you know, better than I do, in terms of the requirements, and that's why it's interesting. On Super Duty, there was a real hesitance in Dearborn to put the Super Duty name on something other than the F-Series (full-sized truck).“But (Ford Australia) convinced the management team, us, to extend the Super Duty, because they knew the engineering team here, but as importantly, the kind of duty cycles you have here really warranted the Super Duty name.”

Details have been hinted at, and speculated about, and shadowy arty teasers have further whet the appetite of Amarok fans everywhere but still information about the upcoming Walkinshaw VW Amarok remains scant.

The on-again, off-again Tesla Cybertruck launch in Australia appears to at last be approaching on again, with a version of the electrified horror show doing the rounds at our EV conferences, and the brand's chief confirming a slightly modified version of the vehicle is under review

A Nissan Americas executive has hinted at the future of the brand’s ute and pick-up family becoming much more streamlined.

Kia’s recent pricing announcement for its Tasman ute has caused the internet to explode, with many enthusiasts and prospective buyers weighing in on the debate about whether or not the newcomer costs too much.

Chinese brand BYD is plotting an SUV and ute-lead takeover of the Australian new-car market, with the carmaker's local executives promising ladder-frame SUVs and even a tougher Shark 6 ute as part of a broad product rollout.

With the eagerly-anticipated Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) finally hitting showrooms in the middle of this year to give the BYD Shark 6 PHEV a run for its money, is that where this level of electrification development stops on the T6.2 platform?

Can you have too much of a good thing? Australians love utes and in recent years we’ve seen more and more brands look to capitalise on that, but it may not be a case of the more the merrier.