Remember when: A car was Australia’s favourite vehicle

There was a time when Australians weren't in love with dual-cab utes. 

It was only a few years ago that genuine passenger cars were the most popular new cars in the country.  

The year was 2015, a time when buying a new car wasn't about sitting high-up above the traffic and mixing a work vehicle with the family-hauling duties or for the occasional weekend warrior to tow the jet ski. 

Small cars dominated the new car landscape in 2015 with the Toyota Corolla leading the pack with more than 42,000 examples registered, the Mazda3 followed just behind with more than 38,000 cars sold with Hyundai's i30 chipping about 32,000. 

However, the dual-cab sharks were already circling: the Toyota HiLux was making a bee-line for top spot with 35,000 sales, while the Ford Ranger – perenially the light commercial bridesmaid – registered about 29,000. 

The decline in sales of passenger cars has only escalated, with sales of traditional sedans, hatchbacks and station wagons continuing to nosedive since they last held the top spot in 2015. 

In the first two months of 2018 passenger cars account for 36 per cent of all new cars sold, which is down from almost 45 per cent only just over two years ago. Light commercials have accounted for a large portion of those lost sales over the years growing from 17 per cent to almost 20 per cent of market share. 

The popularity of dual-cab utes has spawned more and more variants that are moving the light-commercial away from its intended workhorse duties. 

A proliferation of luxury models have hit the market in the last few years with most manufacturers offering a range-topping, full-fruit variant that caters more to the school run duties than the worksite. 

We may be about to hit peak dual-cab ute in the coming months with the impending launch of the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, which will no doubt become a roaring success for the three-pointed star as it moves the ute more and more towards the SUV. 

The next battle ground for light-commercials will invariably be performance models with Ford revealing its Ranger Raptor and Holden debuting its Colorado Sportscat by HSV (pictured below), both of which are due to arrive this year. Pricing for the HSV will start at a little over $60,000, a far cry from the entry-level cab-chassis HiLux Workmate ute at a smidge over $20,000, the Raptor is expected to be priced north of $80,000. 

Luxury and performance traits of the current and upcoming dual-cab utes is blending the lines between a ute and an SUV, which is only helping sales as SUVs also experience stratospheric sales growth. 

However, SUVs look locked out of the top on the sales chart due to the broad range of quality options spread across a range of segments from city SUVs to giant seven-seat luxury options, while dual cabs are focused on just a few brands and models. 

There doesn’t seem to be any abatement in sales for light commercials as both the HiLux and Ranger have extended its lead from the rest of the pack in 2018. So it seems we have to get used to big high-riding, diesel fume spewing machines for the foreseeable future. 

2015 time capsule 

Average fuel unleaded petrol price – 133.51 cents 

Highest grossing movie – Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

Top of the charts - "Uptown Funk",  Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 

NRL premiers – North Queensland Cowboys 

AFL  premiers – Hawthorn Hawks 

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