It’s been a busy period for new utes with all-new models coming our way from Kia, BYD, Foton, JAC and more to join the likes of the Mitsubishi Triton, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 in a highly competitive market.
Australia is big like the United States with deserts and oceans and the inhabitants love the same things like the outdoors and sport, and even the same kind of cars and music and beer, well, maybe not beer. But it made sense that with so much in common between these two peoples on either side of the planet, the arrival of the extra large pick-up trucks would be met by open Aussie arms.
Just as there was scepticism about Japan's global auto expansion in the 1970s and resistance to Korea's meteoric rise in the '90s, there are staunch detractors of Chinese cars today.
It’s been a long time since someone who’s not that interested in cars gushed to me about how much they like Tesla (it doesn’t help that the man in charge of Tesla has done less and less for his own reputation as time rolls on), so if Tesla isn’t the brand at the cultural forefront of electric cars then, who should be?
What is the answer to lowering global tailpipe emissions? It doesn't seem to be fines for manufacturers, but incentives for buyers mixed with broader choice of hybrid, plug-in and future propulsion options.
There’s few worse feelings than buying a new car and then finding out it’s now cheaper. Not only do you feel like you’ve been swindled but it only hurts your depreciation even more than normal.
Reviewing cars for CarsGuide is a wonderful job (in fact, don’t tell them but it really doesn’t feel like a job) and it means I’m on the road more than the average motorist. It also means I’ve been lucky enough to drive in other countries and get a sense for what’s the same, what’s better and what’s worse.