Celebrating the vehicles that make the Kiwi lifestyle possible.

Each year NZ4WD researches and compiles a buyer’s guide to pretty much all the 4WD/AWD SUVs and utilities currently available.

It’s a chance to reflect on the year just gone and the health of the booming market for new 4WD utes and SUVs.

In both the ute and SUV sections, we have of course left out 2WD versions of each vehicle.

The ute category remains white-hot, propelled by the arrival mid-year of VW’s Amarok; SUVs meanwhile continue to grow in popularity with new offerings from the likes of Nissan and Subaru and more to choose from in the Ford Everest range.

In the bigger SUVs, Jeep offered up a five-seat Grand Cherokee to back its seven-seater ‘L’ version; Ineos has soft-launched its Grenadier, a clear replacement for the dear departed Land Rover Defender.

There are more hybrid, PHEV and EV options than a year ago, as the popularity of these variants grows with their economy and green credentials, though the demise of the ‘ute tax’ may affect the speedy growth of the EV part of this sector. And we’re still waiting for an EV ute that can do what a Ranger, Amarok, Navara or Triton does. In fact, 2023 saw the demise of the only EV ute on the market, LDV’s e-T60.

For anyone searching for their next 4WD, this is a great place to start.