Utes remain the top sellers despite the move to cleaner greener vehicles

The trusty ute continues to be the vehicle of choice despite the move to cleaner
and greener vehicles. In March, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive
Industries V-Facts data the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-Max utes
topped the sales chart. At the same time the Federal Chamber released the
findings of its 2022 voluntary emissions reduction standards. The report showed
that emissions from passenger cars and light SUV’s were down more that 10
grams per kilometre compared to 2021 levels. However, when it came to heavy
SUV’s and light commercials, which includes utes, the emissions rose marginally
to 212.8g/km, well above the target of 189g/km set by the Chamber. Quite frankly,
this is going to be a difficult target to meet – the dual cab dual purpose ute is the
choice of many Australians – great for work and also for play. And with the target
at this stage voluntary there’s little incentive for them to get much cleaner. I’m
David Berthon
Download this podcast here