No Pickups in Australia and New Zeland

[jacqnbill]

I just retuned from a three week trip thru Australia and New Zeland and noticed no pickups on the roads. There aren't any brands including Japan or US models. Seems strange. What a place to live.



Bill Davis

 

[klenger]

There's a good reason for that. Think about it for a minute... Australia and New Zeland are on the bottom of the world. If you put anything in the pickup bed, it will all fall out. :-laf

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Boy, I bet seatbelts are VERY popular down there!

 

[NBowlin]

Same type thing here in iceland. For the most part anyways. They do seem to have, for what ever reason, A thing with the 6. 0 Fords. I have seen not even a half dozen cummins powered rams over here. Close the the base you see alot of american rigs, but get away from it abit and you dont hardly at all.

volkswagon, musso, nissan, and toyota diesel rigs. The older nissan patrols and defenders with the 3L diesel in them are some slick rigs though.

 

[ezcurra]

I'm from Spain and lived there for almost 20 years. Pick-ups in most of Western Europe are very very rare.

 

[Regcabguy]

I was down in Australia for four months in 1979 and F-100 Fords were considered "spot on". Quite a few existed at the time and also "utes" ( El Caminos & Rancheros) The rancheros were available in 4wd with 240 c. u. sixes and manual trannys! They got great mileage and were very dependable due to a complete absence of emission equipment. Diesels weren't prevalent at that time due to $1. 65/gallon gas. My friend just returned and said petrol was $5. 50 to $6. 00 a gallon. A lot of money for socialized medicine. They really hit the motorist.

 

[jacqnbill]

I was down in Australia for four months in 1979 and F-100 Fords were considered "spot on". Quite a few existed at the time and also "utes" ( El Caminos & Rancheros) The rancheros were available in 4wd with 240 c. u. sixes and manual trannys! They got great mileage and were very dependable due to a complete absence of emission equipment. Diesels weren't prevalent at that time due to $1. 65/gallon gas. My friend just returned and said petrol was $5. 50 to $6. 00 a gallon. A lot of money for socialized medicine. They really hit the motorist.

I did see a couple of El Caminos. Gasoline is around $4. 50 Australian dollars which is around $4. 00 US. Diesel is a little cheaper but Propane is half the price of Gas and lots of stations have propane.

 

[sack]

I spent about a year in Oz and it really depends where you go. When you get a bit further out of the cities you'll see a lot of pickups, but almost all of them have cabins on the back. The most popular outback car there is the diesel landcruiser. They have a different model down there and its really sweet, it can go just about anywhere, trust me, I had one! Usually in the cities though, the utes (like el caminos) are about the closest thing you'll see to a pickup.

 

[Giachino]

I just retuned from a three week trip thru Australia and New Zeland and noticed no pickups on the roads. There aren't any brands including Japan or US models. Seems strange. What a place to live.



Bill Davis

My company has operations in AUS and I go down there every couple of weeks... . you are correct, there are very few trucks... couple of reasons:



1. Gas / Diesel is expensive

2. Their Roads / Parking Spots are smaller than ours (in souther california - meaning real small)

3. It's a cultural thing, they've never had them so they dont know what they're missing... . They use "UTEs"... . modern el camino looking things based off of the Ford Falcom or Holden (GMC)... small platform... ... . they do offer v8's and they haul *****. As for cars, the average size car is about the size of a focus... . all very small cars, they dont have anything equivalent to a full size american car... . their big car is a nissian maxima.

4. Cars (all vehicles) are very expensive in AUS (due to Taxes I believe)

- Estimating here but I believe a F250 that would cost $45k here would be at least $60k there (or $80k AUS)

- a 40k BMW 3 series is 60k US as well

- a Honda CRF450 is $8500 US (and I want one to ride donw there but I refuse to pay that much vs. $6k here)

5. Depends on what region you're in. Definately not a lot of large trucks in Sydney... just as there isnt in San Francisco



Couple of other observations:

- Saw a Ford F250 Superduty commercial (they're working on the culture thing)... and it was shown pulling an 18 wheeler (20 wheeler in AUS) our of a mud bog... . so Fords working the angle

- Our company has a F250 used for hauling (it's an 04 diesel) and they absolutely hate it as it's had a ton of issues (and I'm not a hater, just repeating what the site manager relayed too me)

- They do have quite a few cars available with diesels... . such as the CFOs BMW X5... . it's a really nice motor

- They also have bull bars (or Roo (Short for Kangaroo) bars) on every type of car... you'll see a small car with a roo bar that would make our dodges prowd. Several of the UTEs / Trucks also have snorkel's on them... . look pretty cool.

- Most of they're SUV's / Trucks have some serious gas tanks on them... . for instance a guy that works for me has an AUS Land Cruiser (04)... and it has a 170 liter tank on it stock... . that's 70 some odd gallons... . made for traversing the outback...



Other than vehicle / gas prices it's an awsome country and would recommend everyone jump on any opportunity you have to go!

 

[jandtjil]

Have to agree, enjoyed the people and the sites. Very nice place!



JJ

 

[jacqnbill]

(quote) Other than vehicle / gas prices it's an awsome country and would recommend everyone jump on any opportunity you have to go!



I agree with you. Loved the people and country. Visited Ayers Rock , Port Douglas ,Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne ,Tansmania and Sydney. I found it very expensive in all areas but otherwise great.



Bill Davis

 

[klenger]

And we complain about paying $2 for #2. You never know how good you have it till it's gone.

 

[Cooker]

I heard the cost of housing has gotten out of hand in oz too. Any truth to that? When I spent some time there 10 years or so ago now, I didn't think it would be too hard to earn a decent wage and live a decent lifestyle there, cars were spendy but housing was pretty reasonable at that time. I hear now that it is one of the most expensive countries in the world to live.

 

[BLACKRAM]

I think it is because their women are much more slender. They don't need a truck to haul A##. :-laf :-laf

 

[jacqnbill]

I heard the cost of housing has gotten out of hand in oz too. Any truth to that? When I spent some time there 10 years or so ago now, I didn't think it would be too hard to earn a decent wage and live a decent lifestyle there, cars were spendy but housing was pretty reasonable at that time. I hear now that it is one of the most expensive countries in the world to live.

Yes the housing has escalated by 800 percent in the past five years. They are shocked at 6 figures but California home prices would knock their socks off.



Bill

 

[Cooker]

800 percent in the past five years

800% in 5 years :--)