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the australian farmer
over a million new vehicles. Of the top four sellers, three were utes:
on Monday.” Ford designer Lew Bandt re- sponded by modifying a coupe with a strengthened chassis and tub body. By 1934, the first Aussie ute – the Model 40-A Light Deliv- ery – rolled out of Ford’s Geelong factory. It was both workhorse and weekend ride. Of the 1,390 produced, 862 were Roadster Util- ities and 528 were Coupe Utilities; a modest start to what would be- come an Australian icon. Through the ’50s and ’60s, Holden and Ford rolled out sedan-based utes, but the game changed when Japanese brands arrived. In 1958, Sir Leslie Thiess imported the first Toyota Land- Cruisers for the Snowy Moun- tains Scheme, and in 1968, the Toyota HiLux replaced the Stout light commercial. Farmers quickly saw the bene- fit of 4x4s. When dual-cab mod- els arrived, they could carry tools during the week and the family to the bush or beach on weekends. The modern ute was born. The Modern Ute Today’s ute is part work truck, part family car, and part off-road tourer. Japanese brands flipped the script in the late ’80s, design- ing wagons from utes instead of the other way around. Globally, the US dominates in sales, led for years by the Ford F-Series. Thailand punches above its weight, with around 460,000 utes sold annually – that’s enough to attract major manufacturing from Japanese brands. Most Japanese utes are
Australian vehicles need to be tough. In the back blocks, on farms, and even in our towns, they cop a hiding – hauling, towing, crossing creeks and paddocks. It’s these conditions that gave rise to a uniquely Aus- tralian vehicle: the ute. The ute might not be exclu- sive to Australia, but the de- mands of our rural landscape have shaped it like nowhere else – built to cross deserts, ford rivers, and handle the bush without flinching. In 2024, Australians bought
• Ford Ranger – 62,593 • Toyota HiLux – 53,499 • Isuzu D-Max – 30,194
Together, utes made up over 229,000 sales – clear proof they re- main a backbone of Australian life. A Brief History In 1933, a farmer’s wife from Gippsland penned a letter to Ford Australia asking for a vehicle “to go to church on Sun- day and take the pigs to market
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