Holden UTE FAQs

• Are Holden Utes legal in the US?

  The US has been burdened by strict import laws that make it hard to bring in some of the most-popular cars produced in overseas markets. This includes some of the favourites from across the Asia-Pacific region, like the Nissan Skyline R-34 and the Holden Ute. Vehicles not sold originally in the US must be at least 25 years old before they may be legally imported. From a manufacturing point of view, hefty import tariffs that protect domestic production of pick-up trucks, known as chicken taxes, made it unfeasible to import the car for sale.

• Is the Holden Ute good?

  Based on the highly popular Commodore sedan, the Holden Ute became an Australian motoring icon thanks to its one-of-a-kind proposition. It was remarkably simple to operate, offered fantastic performance on the road, and boasted a phenomenal level of practicality. Whether this was your daily-driver, work vehicle or weekend adventurer, the Holden ute had plenty working in its favour and its absence from the Australian new car market is a sad result for this beauty.

• Why did Holden close down?

  Locally, Holden was facing a number of headwinds when it came to maintaining operations down under. The brand was dealing with high manufacturing costs, something that plagued Ford as well. But it also had to deal with a higher Aussie dollar at the time, and a small local car market that is particularly fragmented among a large number of brands. It no longer became viable for Holden to produce vehicles down under, and importing them from abroad was no longer financially attractive to parent company General Motors.