Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Dual-Cab Ute Under $100K finalists announced – UPDATE
Yesterday at 05:51 PM
Here is every finalist in the running for the Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Dual-Cab Ute Under $100K category.
Drive Car of the Year 2025
Now in its 20th year, the annual Drive Car of the Year awards program continues to be the Australian new car buyer's most-trusted advisor.
At Drive, we test drive more than 200 new cars every year, evaluating each against its innate promise to sort the best from the rest. We divide the 400-plus new passenger cars, SUVs, 4WDs and utes into 19 price-banded categories focused on the end-user. Then we analyse the strengths and weaknesses of every car to find the cream of the automotive crop.
Drive Car of the Year 2025 is a go!
Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Dual-Cab Ute Under $100K
There's been no shortage of action in the utilitarian dual-cab ute market over the past 12 months, with several facelifts and plenty of new nameplates outright.
We can't seem to get away from the Ford Ranger and its uncanny ability to be the best all-rounder, so it's once again back in the finalists list for 2025. But it's joined by the Isuzu D-Max, and GWM Cannon Alpha.
Let's start with the one we're most familiar with. Relatively little has changed with the Ford Ranger in the last 12 months, but that doesn't mean it's any less relevant in 2025.
It continues to set the standard for refinement, technology, ride comfort, and powertrain options. The interior is adaptable, there are plenty of variants to choose from, and the driving experience is among the most car-like of all utes in the segment.
It was previously our 2023 Drive Car of the Year winner outright and has been the winner of this category two years running. It'll be a big upset if this car doesn't win yet again.
Read more about the Ford Ranger here.
To take on the Ford Ranger, Isuzu updated the D-Max with important tweaks that address key criticisms of the pre-facelift version.
These include dials for the volume and tuning controls, new underlying software for the infotainment system, and better cameras for the active safety systems.
As before, the model continues to set itself aside from other dual-cab utes due to its alluring value, strong diesel engine, and impressive equipment lists.
Read more about the Isuzu D-Max here.
The GWM Cannon Alpha arrived on local shores mid-way through 2024 with an up-sized ute body and diesel or hybrid power under the bonnet. It was the first light-commercial utility to offer hybrid power, and the interior feels surprisingly upmarket.
The value-for-money equation is nothing to scoff at either – few other car makers can claim such an affordable drive-away price, plus the seven-year warranty is hugely valuable in a ute that's built to go the distance, and is bigger than key rivals.
The Cannon Alpha might not be known to all, but there's no doubt this is a ute with a difference and it offers technology that few rivals can match.
Read more about the GWM Cannon Alpha here.
The Drive Car of the Year Best Dual-Cab Ute Under $100K will be announced on 24 February 2025.
The below was published on 18 November 2024:
If medium SUVs are the cars that Australians need, dual-cab utes are the cars that they want. The tough-truck aesthetic has been all the rage over the past decade and the trend continues strong in 2025.
Cars such as the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux continually top local sales charts, only occasionally beaten by Toyota’s RAV4 medium SUV. In 2023, the Ford Ranger was the country’s best-selling vehicle outright.
So it’s no secret that Aussies love the blend of the highly practical, carry-all, do-everything dual-cab ute. Gone are the days when these utilitarian vehicles were filled with just the bare necessities – they’re now as leather-laden and tech-forward as you’ll find in high-end SUVs.
Those comforts extend to a refined unladen ride comfort, smoother powertrains, and as much tech and safety as you'll find in passenger cars. For lots of buyers, these vehicles just do everything they'll ever want or need all rolled into the one vehicle.
Combine this sumptuous comfort with unflinching off-road abilities, and it’s not hard to see why we love the dual-cab ute Down Under.
Not to mention, many owners will be able to take advantage of the tax benefits provided by a car than car do work and play in equal measures.
In all, for a dual-cab ute to feature at the pointy end of our Best Dual-Cab Ute Under $100K award it needs to offer uncompromising off-road ability, a sturdy powertrain, and impressive technology to keep occupants occupied on the open road.
As well, buyers of cars in this category are willing to spend a bit more money, so premium cabin materials and copious features become more important.
The Ford Ranger has won this category the last two times it’s been run as part of Drive Car of the Year. It has impressed judges for its blend of technology, high level of safety, and excellent dynamic ability. It’s invited back to defend its crown in 2025 and it’ll be a tough one to dethrone.
Its competitors range from Chinese offerings such as the GWM Cannon Alpha, to conventional alternatives such as the updated Mitsubishi Triton and Isuzu D-Max. The Mitsubishi Triton has come in for a major product overhaul which included new technology, a new engine, and vastly updated interior.
Meanwhile, the Isuzu D-Max has undergone incremental product tweaks that add up to a substantially better model than was introduced to Australia in 2020.
One of the country’s favourite offerings, the Toyota HiLux, has been updated with new mild-hybrid powertrains, which is enough to cement another entry for this ageing nameplate. Alongside the HiLux, the recently overhauled LandCruiser 70 Series and its four-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic also slot into the segment.
It's going to be a close call this year, whichever way you look at it.
FAQs
Which cars are eligible for this category?
Drive's rules require that, for a car to be eligible, it must:
- Be all-new or significantly updated.
- Be on sale with customer deliveries commenced by 31 December 2024.
- Retail examples be made available for Drive to road test before that cut-off date.
- Pricing cut-offs exclude discounts and limited-time offers.
Unfortunately, there were some cars that couldn’t make it for this year’s running. The new plug-in hybrid BYD Shark 6 seems like an alluring vehicle, but it simply launched too late in 2024 for Drive judges to effectively test.
That said, we look forward to welcoming the BYD Shark 6 back for next-year’s running.
As well, the price bands of some model ranges extend beyond our $100,000 barrier. In this case, only the variants with retail prices less than $50,000 are considered worthy of the Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Dual-Cab Ute Under $100K category.
| Contenders | Not here in time |
| – Cars that are all-new or significantly updated since they last contested Drive Car of the Year. – New categories are open to all cars that fit category requirements. – Last year's winner is an automatic inclusion. | – These cars meet category requirements, but are not due to arrive in time for Drive Car of the Year 2025 judging. |
| BYD Shark 6 Ford Ranger (defending) GWM Canon Alpha Isuzu D-Max Mitsubishi Triton Toyota Hilux MHEV Toyota LandCruiser | None |
What are the next steps?
The winner of the Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Dual-Cab Ute Under $100K will be announced in February 2025.
Before then, we will announce the finalists, all of which deliver on the buyer's expectations for cost-effective urban motoring. One thing is certain: this category promises to be one of the toughest confronting our experienced judges.
Read more:
Drive Car of the Year 2025 is a go!
Drive Car of the Year Overview
Drive Car of the Year 2024 winners
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