Best utes and vans arriving in 2025

Along with another GWM model - the Tank 300 - the GWM Cannon ute will have a new 2.4-litre turbo-diesel engine, which makes an extra 15kW and 80Nm over the previous version - the new one totals 135kW/480Nm.

This brings its braked towing capacity up from 3000kg to 3500kg to match stalwart rivals, and its interior will also come with a series of upgrades including a new touchscreen and dash, instruments, and trim borrowed from the Tank 500.

There’s more good news for the Cannon in 2025, but that comes later on in this very list.

So long Hemi V8, hello Hurricane. The new-look Ram 1500 pick-up gets a fresh turbo-petrol inline six developing 313kW/636Nm, up 22kW and 90Nm over the 5.7-litre V8. A High Output (H/O) version will arrive with 403kW and 707Nm.

New styling, badges and sheetmetal stand it apart from the existing model.

Inside, the tech is boosted with a 14.5-inch multimedia touchscreen, 12.3-inch digital driver's display and optional passenger touchscreen.

Headlining the range is a Tungsten trim, taking luxury to new level for utes with two-tone leather, knurled knobs and ventilated/heated seats with a massage function.

Not long after BYD’s Shark 6 starts landing in showrooms, it looks like another ute has the chance to beat the Ford Ranger PHEV to the punch - the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV equipped with the brand’s Hi4T plug-in hybrid system.

Its 110km battery-electric driving range tops the BYD claim, thanks to its monster 37.1kWh lithium-ion battery, and even though its 300kW falls 20kW short of the Shark, its 750Nm is 100Nm torquier.

Most importantly, this means it might be able to tow more than the BYD Shark 6’s 2500kg braked - most utes in Australia can do 3500kg.

The Triton is already on Australian roads in dual-cab pick-up form, but the next step is for Mitsubishi to offer up its ute in a tradie-friendly cab-chassis version, ready to be trayed, modified or turned into a service vehicle.

Having been confirmed already for an MY24.5 update as of October 2024, including the addition of a GLX-R variant, it’s not clear which trims of the ute will be available with a cab-chassis set-up.

We’d expect to see at least the base GLX (currently $43,690 before on-roads in dual-cab form) available as a cheaper cab-chassis version in the first half of 2025.

Australia's next electric ute should be better than the first, also brought here by LDV.

The eTerron 9 isn't a knee-jerk reaction to battery tech, it's designed from the outside with being an EV in mind.

Currently running around Australia for pre-launch evaluation, a battery as big as 102kWh should give 430km of WLTP-rated range.

Twin motors mean 4WD and peak power at 325kW.

Mining fleets are who LDV is looking to with the eTerron 9. A diesel version is tipped to follow, too.

Ford will be the first ‘Aussie-established’ manufacturer to take its ute to properly electrified places, rivals such as the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon PHEV will need to be wary of the Blue Oval’s brand sway amongst Aussies.

Like the Raptor performance version, the Ranger PHEV ditches the trusty diesel for a 2.3-litre turbocharged petrol-fuelled engine paired with an electric motor and a modest 11.8kWh battery.

Ford doesn’t have a total figure for its outputs, but expect more than 250kW and 600Nm, as well as following up on the brand’s claim it will have an EV range of more than 45km. Importantly, Ford says the Ranger PHEV will be able to tow 3500kg braked.