The rise and rise of the ute
I despair sometimes – bloody utes took first, second and fourth in overall Australian sales figures last month (December 2018). Really?
Assuming we haven’t all become ‘tradies’ overnight, I’m struggling to figure out what the appeal is. Utes are big, heavy, often ugly, hard to park, uneconomical, as aerodynamic as the average brick, have relatively crude suspension, so don’t ride or handle like a regular car, have relatively poor space for passengers and, while safety has improved, they still have a C of G equivalent of an office block. So they fall over far more easily than most cars. If they were cheap, it might make more sense, but they’re not. A VW Amorak will cost you well over $50,000, for example! The new Mercedes Benz ute will cost even more no doubt.
And, if utes are the new trend, every prestige car maker will be making plans to offer even more luxurious utes, as they have with SUV’s. I can’t wait to see a Bentley ute with a quilted, leather-lined tray!
Ute loving Aussies
I have read we Aussies ‘love our Utes’ because they’re practical, can tow a lot and there’s a good view of the road up there. And, of course, if you spend your weekends shopping at Bunnings, you could pack a lot on the tray, but since when did carrying hardware become more important than carrying people?‘ ‘It’s a lifestyle thing’ apparently, which might make sense to someone. Not to me.
I totally understand why ‘Tradies’ or farmers drive Australian Utes – they carry lots of stuff like tools, pipes, animals and things. Utes are practical, tough and built to do a job. They are good at what they are designed to do. The thing is though, they are still actually trucks, not cars. So they do truck stuff well and car stuff pretty badly.
‘Bugger the environment, I need a truck’
And, get this, with Australians finally coming around to the fact that climate change is real and are supposedly showing greater concern for the environment, sales of small cars are falling fast! Clearly, the Average Joe, or Joanna, doesn’t give a toss about the environment when they need a new set of wheels.
Next, I suppose we’ll hear how sales of work boots and hard hats are going through the roof, which might do wonders for the image of those suburban ‘lifestyle’ people. Of course, the pretend ‘Tradie’ look is already very popular with our politicians when there’s a camera around. If that doesn’t put you off buying a ute, I don’t know what will.
