Is Australia ready for big US SUVs? Why the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol rivalling 2025 GMC Yukon is a big deal as it prepares to kickstart a new era of supersized SUVs | Opinion

It’s no secret Australians love SUVs — and the bigger, the better.

Big, off-road capable models including the Toyota LandCruiser and Ford Everest are amongst the best-selling models in the country, but the market is in for a shock with the arrival of an all-new contender.

The GMC Yukon is General Motors Speciality Vehicles’ (GMSV) answer to the LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol, and while it will boast strong towing capacity (in the USA it’s rated at 3800kg) it’s a more on-road, luxury focused alternative to the Toyota and Nissan.

A major part of the reason GMSV chose the Yukon for Australia is because it’s built on the same ladder frame chassis as the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 that it already offers here. Both the Yukon and Silverado will be converted to right-hand drive in the same facility, which should make for a more streamlined process with greater economies-of-scale for the operation.

Which leads to the question, will the Yukon open the market for more of these US pick-up truck based jumbo SUVs to hit the Australian market?

The Ford Expedition is built on the same platform as the F-150 and the Toyota Sequoia shares its underpinnings with the recently confirmed Tundra, which theoretically paves the way for the supersized SUV market to grow in Australia the same way the big ute market has.

Since the Ram Trucks range began the era of US pickups, Chevrolet, Ford and now Toyota have followed into what was once seen by industry insiders as a fool’s errand. Many simply believed there would not be a sufficient market for utes costing close-to and more than six-figures with limited payload advantages over the established one-tonne dual-cab ute offerings.

Toyota Sequoia

Instead the big ute market has grown steadily, and while still relatively niche, it notched more than 10,000 sales in 2023; before the F-150 and Tundra contributed in any meaningful way. In the first eight months of 2024, there has been a slight dip of 3.9 per cent year-to-date, but nearly 7000 examples of the big ute have been sold.

The Upper Large SUV segment is much stronger, with the ‘under $120,000’ segment (made up of LandCruiser, Patrol, Land Rover Discovery and Kia EV9) chalking up 17,228 sales year-to-date to August. So for the decision makers at GMSV, Toyota and Ford the possibility of adding rivals to take on the still-relatively-new LandCruiser and recently revealed Patrol will have obvious appeal.

Despite the introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which will finally force car makers to push more fuel efficient models, car makers continue to look for new gaps in the increasingly crowded marketplace. Few other brands will be able to offer these US-style upsized SUVs, so it provides a distinct advantage for GMSV, Ford and, to a lesser extent, Toyota.

Even though Toyota already has the LandCruiser, adding the Sequoia wouldn’t be outside the realms of possibility. Much of the brand’s strength in the sales race is built on a comprehensive line-up that has broad appeal, even with potential crossover across models.

For Ford, adding the Expedition would complement the popular Everest and feed into its strength in the market, which is centred on the Ranger and F-150.

As for GMSV, it gets the first crack at this market, and will either learn there is a limited market for these big SUV or get the jump on the competition at what could be the next untapped opportunity for new sales.