'Loyal with a scant regard for authority': The psychology of the ute driver

Today at 01:41 PM

Original story first published in Drive on 27 December, 2000

City-slicker males, whether they know it or not, are buying more utilities than their country counterparts to secure their own piece of the wide brown land.

"Because they live in the city, they may not be able to buy a quarter-acre block, but with a ute they can have a large chunk of Australia," says leading psychologist Dr James Dalziel.

Over the past two years, both Ford and Holden have sold more utes in the city than in the country.

"For young males, cars have always been a status symbol, a way to express their personality," says Dalziel, a psychology lecturer at the University of Sydney who regularly conducts research into driver attitudes.

"Utes have a rugged image and are a subconscious reminder of bush culture. Buyers want to feel true blue but live in the city."

Buyers may be looking for something with stubble but the first new Holden ute in 10 years has had a wax job. That said, it's still more Bathurst than Balmain.

A massive 80 per cent of ute buyers are males and one in four of those are under 25.

"You could call them larrikins," said Holden marketing manager for large cars John Elsworth.

"They are loyal, yet have scant regard for authority. They are resourceful and independent. Their life motto is work hard, play harder."

Elsworth said many final-year apprentices saw the ute as their first Commodore.

With a starting price of just $23,330, the ute is an accessible entry into the Holden brand. For the well-heeled, there is the flagship SS, which, at $36,490, is a bargain when compared with the $44,400 price of an SS sedan.

But the price is nothing more than a tease at the moment. Only a handful of utes rolled down the production line before Christmas. Full production begins next year.

The Holden ute may have street-cred in spades but it still has its shortcomings. The so-called 'ute for the 21st century' cost $30 million to develop and has 81 new parts (including a tonneau cover designed in a wind tunnel).

But, inexplicably, it has no mechanism to flip the seat forward. This would have apparently cost $500,000 to develop. To simply place a bag behind the seat, owners must patiently and frustratingly wind the seat forward and then back. A solution is expected in about 12 months but is unlikely to be 'retro-fitted' to utes sold earlier.

Sidelined for 12 months as engineering for the Commodore Coupe was given precedence, the long-awaited utility shows that neither Ford nor Holden has its load-carrier right.

The Falcon commercial has a much bigger cabin, the Commodore counterpart is more fun to drive. The Ford’s smaller tray takes a heavier payload. The Holden has a great V8 and a weak six, the Ford vice versa.

The makers concur that their utes appeal to different buyers. Over 70 per cent of Holden ute buyers want a show pony; the same percent of Ford ute buyers want a workhorse.

Holden hyped the fact that its ute is the first in the world with independent rear suspension.

There's a good reason for that: the Holden’s better suited to curves, not kerbs. Many will no doubt view it as a two-door coupe, rather than a ute. Indeed, 40 per cent of Holden ute buyers trade-in a sedan.

A preview in Wagga Wagga this month revealed that the SS drives like a sedan. Contrary to the hype, the basic ute feels like, well, a ute. Drive

Why are Australians obsessed with utes in 2024?

There's no easy answer, but it's certainly true that utes – or pick-up trucks – have never been more popular. And, according to latest research, the demographic of the average ute buyers has changed.

That's hardly surprising. In 2000, the year Drive's original article was published, your average ute was a very different animal to what it is today. Then, two-door, two-seat workhorses, based on the best-selling Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon sedans, defined what it meant to be a ute.

Today, of course, the advent of the dual-cab pick-up (still somewhat nostalgically referred to as 'utes') has transformed what was once a work-a-day truck into a de-facto family hauler that can serve time during the week on the building site before taking the family and their gear on weekend adventures.

Fuelled by generous tax concessions for ABN holders, sales of dual-cabs have never been higher in Australia.

In 2023, Australians bought almost a quarter of a million (249,762) utes and pick-ups, accounting for over 20 per cent (20.53) of all new car sales. Underscoring their popularity and dominance the top-three selling vehicles in Australia in 2023 were utes, with Ford Ranger edging out Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max, the trio of workhorses ahead of the first 'traditional' passenger vehicle, the Toyota RAV4.

It’s the culmination of a significant shift in buyer profiles, where utilities are increasingly seen as 'lifestyle' vehicles, pressed into service for recreational pursuits.

It's a trend backed-up by exhaustive research conducted by Mitsubishi Motors Australia – which sells the popular Triton ute – which found a rise in lifestyle and recreational buyers in the lucrative ute segment.

Data analysis taking in eight years and 813,000 ute buyer profiles across all brands, showed that family and older buyers accounted for 42 per cent of ute sales while traditional agricultural and trade buyers made up 34 per cent of the market.

Mitsubishi's research also showed that 'more mature' buyers were moving away from SUVs in favour of dual-cab utes for their towing and adventure needs while families are embracing the duality of purpose that dual-cab utes offer.

Conversely, Mitsubishi's data revealed that the number of younger ute buyers was in decline, dropping to 16 per cent in 2024, a decrease of two per cent since 2016.

While the demographic split may be changing, one thing remains unaltered. Utes are part of our national identity, a robust vehicle that can tackle every challenge this vast, rugged and beautiful country of ours throws our way.

And despite around 90 per cent of Australians living in urban areas, the ute encapsulates that rugged image, with a go-anywhere-anytime ability we rarely tap into. But it's nice to know we can. RM

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