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As Red Bull Racing and VCARB cars wearing the Blue Oval hit the track for the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season, Ford CEO Jim Farley paid a visit to Australia and said he wants to revive the country’s most famous automotive export.
“I think this country gave the globe the ute,” Farley said in an interview with local publication CarExpert. “So, I’m pretty serious about it.”
Farley was referring to the 1934 Ford Model 40, which is generally credited with kicking off the ute trend. Car-based pickups were a thing going back to the days of the Model T, but this marked an inflection point where they became a well-defined niche as body styles became more rigidly defined and conventional cars and trucks grew further apart.
Ford
Australia also took to the concept like no other country. Car-based pickups like the Chevrolet El Camino, Ford Ranchero, and Subaru BRAT have appeared sporadically in the United States over the years, but they were a constant presence Down Under until the mid 2000s, when Ford and General Motors ended domestic car production and with it Australia-specific models.
So what exactly is Farley’s plan to revive the ute? The good news is that it would be a return to engineering a vehicle specifically for the Australian market. The bad news is that said vehicle will probably look more like a Maverick than a Falcon, the rear-wheel drive, V8-powered staple of Ford’s Australian lineup in the ute era.
In the interview, Farley noted the success of the Maverick in the U.S. and said that Aussies might like a fuel efficient unibody pickup, but emphasized that he wasn’t talking about merely exporting the compact pickup.
Ford
“To do it right here, as a car person, I would want it not to just stamp a global solution and force the market to take it,” Farley said, adding that Australia’s needs would include the ability to stand up to “more extreme” usage, and with a greater emphasis on commercial sales than the U.S.-market Maverick.
Emissions rules would likely preclude a new V8 powertrain, Farley hinted, and CarExpert noted that any new ute would likely need to be shared with another market (or at least share components with a model sold elsewhere) to justify development costs. As with the Maverick, that points to a platform shared with Ford’s crossovers—perhaps the Ford Territory that’s sold in the righthand-drive South African market—and a small turbocharged engine.
This new Ford ute could face competition from a revived Subaru Baja, if it gets the green light. Farley said he would make a decision on the ute before leaving Australia. That trip ended Friday, but Farley’s comments on tailoring the ute to the Aussie market indicate it won’t come to the U.S. in any case. Instead, we’re slated to get small Ford pickups with both electric and gasoline powertrains.
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
