Tradie

Ford's ground-breaking Ranger Super Duty brings unprecedented load-hauling and towing abilities to the medium-sized ute segment combined with tank-tough construction and advanced off-road smarts, so is this the ultimate workhorse for tradies?

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.

Mitsubishi is soon releasing the Australian-fettled Triton Raider and if it’s a success the Japanese brand claims there’s room for something above – perhaps with Ralliart in the name.Mitsubishi Australia General Manager Product Strategy and Product Public Relations Bruce Hampel said the Japanese carmaker has many iconic sub-brands, including Ralliart, but for the time being is trying to build the brand name with the Triton Raider.“We’ve positioned this vehicle above the GSR. I guess with the rally raid theme is really what we to pursue and that really helped us inform the Raider naming for this particular variant,” said Hampel.“It’s really our first foray we’re breaking new ground for Mitsubishi in that higher price bracket compact pick-up segment, which is quite extensive in the Australian market.”It’s worth noting that Mitsubishi offered the limited-production Triton Xtreme in 2023, which was co-developed by Walkinshaw. It’s still the most expensive new Triton to date at $71,990 before on-road costs.“So we’re really seeing how goes, how well we’ve managed to deliver the customer needs and how well that’s resonating with them,” added Hampel.“The goal is ultimately to build the brand and pull on our heritage, and part of that is the history we have with our sub-brands in the Australian market.“And if successful then, yes, we’ll continue taking the next step.”Ralliart is an iconic, high-performance sub-brand for the Mitsubishi brand that has its roots in rally racing.The Ralliart name is still affixed to certain, range-topping versions of the Japanese carmaker’s vehicles.The last Mitsubishi model offered in Australia with a Ralliart badge was the Lancer in 2015. Sitting below the Evolution, it was powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that’s mated with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and sent drive through an all-wheel drive system.There have been many versions of the Triton Ralliart offered in other markets across many generations now, however they have largely been decals and aesthetic packages.There is demand for souped-up dual-cab utes in Australia, particularly stirred up by the Ford Ranger Raptor with its 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine.The forthcoming Triton Raider has been developed in partnership with Melbourne-based engineering and manufacturing firm, Premcar.Although the 2.4-litre bi-turbo diesel engine doesn’t produce any more power or torque, the suspension and tyre package has been tweaked to make this Triton more capable on- and off-road. There are also tougher looks.Using the model year 2026 (MY26) version of the Triton GSR as a base, the Raider gains Yamaha horizontally mounted dampers to further reduce noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).There’s a unique front and rear suspension damper package with the front damper gaining an internal rebound spring to create more wheel control on a variety of surfaces.Other tweaks include 18-inch ROH ‘Assault’ alloy wheels finished in a unique brushed bronze finish that are wrapped in Bridgestone AT002 all-terrain tyres.As a result of the suspension and tyre package, there is a 25mm ride height increase at the front, 10mm ride height increase at the rear and 20mm wider track width.Matching the brushed bronze alloys, there are a range of exterior highlights and decals with the same finish. Additionally there are upgraded side protection bars, underbody protection and a sports bar with unique red highlights.Inside the Triton Raider receives black leather upholstery with orange stitching and Raider branding embroidered into the front headrests. There’s also a Raider badge fitted on the centre console.At this stage Mitsubishi hasn’t detailed pricing for the Triton Raider, though it is likely to be more than the current flagship GSR trim, which is priced at $65,590 before on-road costs.This means the Triton Raider could be closer to $70,000 before on-road costs.

Kia has confirmed critical details of the brand's upcoming ute, and seemingly inadvertently spilled on Hyundai's plans for a BYD Shark 6-fighting dual-cab.

Geely’s commercial division, Farizon, has revealed pricing and specifications for its upcoming V7E commercial van.Sitting below the already-launched Farizon SuperVan, which is a more premium offering to compete with the likes of the Ford Transit Custom and Volkswagen Transporter, the V7E is in a budget price bracket, offering a smaller load area and payload.Starting from just $49,990 drive-away, the V7E becomes by far the most affordable electric offering in its class, even undercutting the impressive $55,990 price-tag for the new Kia PV5 electric commercial van.Farizon said its new van is purpose-built for trades, couriers, and fleet operators, as opposed to the more multi-purpose edge and diverse bodystyle options of its more expensive SuperVan.The V7E offers up to 1338kg of payload (1208kg in the Extended Range), with a 6.95 cubic metre load area. It also has a 2.86 metre total load length and a low load height of 610mm.It arrives in two variants but just one bodystyle, with the $49,990 leading price for the base Standard Range 50kWh version (240km WLTP range), stepping up to $53,990 for the 66kWh Extended Range variant (329km WLTP range).Both share a 100kW maximum DC charge speed, with the 50kWh version charging from 20 - 80 per cent in just 26 minutes, while the 66kWh version can complete the same charge in 33 minutes, which the brand says reduces downtime for operators.Slow AC charging maxes out at 11kW for a roughly four hour charge on the base car or five hour charge on the Extended Range. The V7E also features a full-size 240-volt household power outlet on board to help use the battery to power external devices.Both versions of the V7E are front-wheel drive, powered by the same 110kW/230Nm electric motor.As for total loading specs, the V7E measures 4995mm long, 1820mm wide, and 1985mm tall with a 3200mm wheelbase. The cargo area measures 2865mm long, 1690mm wide, and 1435mm tall. GVM for both variants is 3150kg. Towing capacity is limited to 750kg unbraked or 1000kg braked.The V7E has a 1100mm sliding side door and 270-degree opening barn doors at the rear.Standard equipment is the same on both cars, featuring 16-inch aero-style wheels, LED headlights, fabric seat trim with heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 7.0-inch digital dash cluster and a dual speaker audio system. It also features an array of physical controls to “reduce reliance on touchscreen interaction.”The V7E only features dual frontal airbags, but a full suite of active safety items usually only found on passenger cars.Farizon offers an eight-year 200,000km battery warranty and a five-year 200,000 new vehicle warranty, with a matching five years of roadside assist.Customer deliveries of the V7E are expected to begin in May of 2026.

BYD has confirmed two new versions of the top-selling Shark 6 dual-cab ute for Australia that will be available to order soon.The new, flagship BYD Shark 6 Performance is priced from $62,900 before on-road costs, which is $5000 more than the existing Premium trim.There’s also a new, entry-level Shark 6 Dynamic cab-chassis trim which is priced from $55,900 before on-road costs.It’s worth noting that this does not include a tray. BYD has been working with Ironman 4x4 to develop a heavy-duty alloy tray as an option, but pricing for this hasn’t been confirmed yet.A full pricing table is at the bottom of this story.The main change with the new Shark 6 Performance is it receives a larger and more powerful 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine.With the dual electric motors, one on each axle, it produces total system outputs of 350kW and 700Nm, which is 29kW and 50Nm more than the 1.5-litre turbo Shark 6 variants.BYD claims the Shark 6 Performance can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.5 seconds, which is 0.2 seconds faster than the Shark 6 Premium.It also has a braked towing capacity of 3500kg, which is 1000kg more than the Shark 6 Dynamic cab-chassis and Premium.Payload capacities for the Shark 6 Dynamic cab-chassis and Performance haven’t been confirmed yet, however, the existing Premium offers 790kg.A new ‘Crawl’ drive mode debuts in the Shark 6 Performance, which the company claims to improve the off-road capability over the existing “Mountain” drive mode. Essentially a low-speed cruise control, it operates at up to 20km/h and continuously adjusts torque to keep the wheels moving without slipping.While the ‘Crawl’ drive mode will initially be offered in the Performance trim, it’ll come to the Premium and Dynamic cab-chassis vehicles via an over-the-air software update later this year.It’s worth noting that no Shark 6 variant offers any form of locking differential. To date this has been reserved for the more premium, yet related Denza B5 and B8 SUVs.Full specifications haven’t been confirmed just yet but the Dynamic cab-chassis receives a smaller 12.8-inch central touchscreen multimedia system. The Premium and Performance have a 15.6-inch touchscreen instead.At this stage BYD has only released imagery of the new Shark 6 Dynamic cab-chassis. It’s unclear if the Performance will have any visual changes.

The Toyota HiLux ute has been subject to an urgent recall due a power steering issue. It concerns 13,390 examples of the HiLux for the 2025 and 2026 model years. “The operation of the Electronic Power Steering System (EPS) may be impacted due to incorrect fitment of its wire harness during the installation of Toyota Genuine Bull Bar or Nudge Bar with light bar combination,” the notice reads. “During installation, the EPS wire harness ground connection may have been re-installed incorrectly. This may cause a poor electrical contact, potentially resulting in a sudden loss of power steering assist whilst driving.“A loss of power steering assist whilst driving, could increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and other road users.”Toyota Australia said it is aware of one customer affected by the issue, who presented safely to a dealer, where the recall was actioned.The carmaker will contact affected owners to book an appointment at an official dealer to inspect the vehicle and rectify it if needed for free. The HiLux is Toyota’s most popular model in Australia and managed nearly 50,000 sales last year. It has continued this momentum into 2026, having already managed nearly 9000 sales up to March. 

Last week Hyundai revealed a boxy, new SUV concept that gives us a glimpse of what to expect from its next dual-cab ute.Multiple digital artists have now taken the Hyundai Boulder concept and given it the ute treatment, giving us a better look at what this ute might look like.Imagery from Russian outlet Kolesa shows this new Hyundai ute will have the bold and upright front-end treatment of the Boulder SUV concept, but have other design elements that are reminiscent of the Kia Tasman dual-cab ute.Alternatively, imagery from Brazilian digital artist KDesign AG show this ute being a slightly upsized version of the Tasman and more of a rival to US mid-size pickups like the Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier.Hyundai has confirmed that it plans to launch a mid-size pick-up in the US in 2030. It will also be built in the US which indicates it’s focused at North America and makes an Australian launch unclear in the short term.While the Boulder-based ute is confirmed to be built on a ladder-frame architecture, it’s unclear whether it will be related to the South Korean-built Kia Tasman, which also has a ladder-frame chassis.A range-extender (REEV) hybrid powertrain has been floated by overseas reports.At this stage it’s unclear how much of the Boulder SUV concept’s other design features will carry over to the production ute version. It has 37-inch mud-terrain tyres and a roof-mounted light bar.Previous patent imagery has shown the Boulder-based ute could feature detachable doors, much like the Jeep Gladiator.It’s understood a different Hyundai ute is set to launch in Australia before 2030. Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano told CarsGuide late last year the brand would have a ute ready by the end of 2028."My work permit goes for another two and a half years. I'm not leaving until it's coming,” Romano said in November 2025.“If they produce what we're talking about at this stage and what we're working on, it's gonna be mind blowing, it's gonna be great. And I really mean that, I'm not just blowing smoke.”

BYD has fired a shot across the bow of some of the biggest car bands in Australia in March.The Chinese automaker sold 7217 vehicles in the past month as Australians scrambled to get their hands on plug-in hybrids and electric cars as fuel prices soared.That is a mammoth one month total which beat Ford (7149), Mazda (7156) and Hyundai (6979). Only Toyota (16,574) and Kia (7320) did better than BYD.BYD sales increased by 50 per cent compared to March last year, just as leading brands sales declined. If the Chinese challenger keeps up this growth it's on track to tackle Toyota off the top spot.It was also a banner month for electric vehicles, with about 15,500 finding a new home, which is about double the amount sold in March, 2025.Tesla’s Model Y led the pack with 2818 sales, followed by the BYD Sealion 7 (1970), Zeekr 7X (679), Tesla Model 3 (667) and Geely EX5 (606).Sales of hybrids and plug-in hybrids were also up, but not at the same rate as electric vehicles.Australians bought 17,953 hybrids in March, and 8215 plug-in hybrids (PHEV).Most of the conventional hybrids were Toyotas with BYD gobbling up the lion’s share of PHEVs.A total of 108,703 were sold in the past month, which is slightly down on the previous March. The latest sales data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows there is still plenty of demand for diesel and petrol cars.The Ford Ranger ute was against the best selling vehicle in the nation with 4452 examples finding a new home.This was followed by the Toyota HiLux (4167), Tesla Model Y (2818), Nissan X-Trail (2438) and Mitsubishi Outlander (2318).The Hyundai Kona (2316), Chery Tiggo 4 (2258), Isuzu D-Max (2167), Hyundai Tucson (2042) and Haval Jolion (2013) rounded out the top 10.China was again the top importer to Australia in March — off the back of the success of BYD, GWM, MG and Chery — beating Japan to the post by less than 400 cars. Japan is still the biggest importer of new cars through the first three months but the gap is shrinking fast.Thailand — where the majority of dual-cab utes are built — sunk to a distant third.Toyota’s bad run continued with sales down nearly 20 per cent compared to the same month last year, and down 23 per cent for the year to date.The Japanese giant will get a boost in sales thanks to the new RAV4 family SUV arriving in dealerships this month.Top 10 selling  vehicles March, 2026Top selling car brands March, 2026