’Stupid American trucks’: Aussies erupt as hated US trend takes over

Australians are lashing out as a loathed American trend takes over our roads – and parking spaces – in record numbers.

Backlash is mounting as the trend of monster US-style pick-up trucks continues to take over Australia, infuriating countless locals and causing havoc by taking up multiple parking spaces per vehicle.

In recent years, sales of American “pick-up trucks” have been booming Down Under, with figures proving the US vehicles – like the RAM 1500 and Chevrolet’s Silverado – are exploding in popularity.

In 2021, General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) reported 2118 Chevrolet Silverado sales, and late last year, the 5000th locally-remanufactured vehicle came off the assembly line in Victoria.

And RAM Trucks revealed in October 2022 that 604 units had been sold in September – up 45 per cent on 2021 year to date, with a total of 17,115 RAMs sold to Australian customers since production began.

This surge in demand has seen other car giants sit up and take notice, with one of America’s best-selling vehicles – the Ford F-150 pick-up – on its way to Australian shores this year, followed by the expected arrival of the Toyota Tundra in late 2023 or early 2024.

Like the popular RAM 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado, the F-150 will also be imported as a left-hand-drive model, and then converted to right-hand-drive locally, with that relatively new conversion capability emerging as one of the major forces driving the surge.

But while more local motorists are embracing the trend than ever before, others are hitting back.

Reddit has been flooded with complaints about the trend recently, with many sharing photos of obnoxiously-parked utes.

In one recent example, a pick up was photographed taking up four spaces at a carpark, with the person who snapped the photo slamming the “stupid American trucks”.

Countless commentators responded by arguing that they were “not a tradie vehicle” and that there was little practical use for trucks that size Down Under.

“Not a tradie vehicle. Probs an upper manager of some building group who has never touched a tool other than his own,” one frustrated Australian wrote.

But the vehicles are still exploding in popularity. Picture: Reddit

“Not even an upper manager. Can be some eshay kid of cashed-up bogans,” another responded.

“Guy near me has one, I can sure tell you he’s not a tradie. These things seem to be the domain of construction site managers and insecure white collar workers,” another one wrote, with another adding: “And Boomers towing a 200k caravan.”

“I’ll be honest, 99 per cent of tradies I work with f***ing hate these things. It’s usually some 60-year-old grey nomad that thinks his 900kg Jayco popup needs a vehicle that barely fits in an Australian lane to pull it,” another said.

The vehicles have become so ubiquitous they’ve even been given an Aussie nickname – the “emotional support vehicle”, or ESV – mockingly implying owners of these cars only buy them to compensate for their own shortcomings.

A variety of other creatively insulting nicknames have also been termed, including “Seppo” (short for septic tank, which rhymes with Yank), “Yank tanks” and “freedumb trucks”, as well as a string of others that are too crude to publish.

The trucks have been nicknamed ‘emotional support vehicles’.

“These ESVs make me irrationally angry. I can’t fathom the type of t*rd who buys these,” another furious Australian wrote.

“They’re not better at anything than more reasonable tradie cars. They’re totally impractical. They stick the middle finger up at the planet. I hate them so much.”

In another example, an ESV was also snapped taking up multiple car spaces in an indoor car park, attracting similar ire.

“ … this isn’t about utility, it’s just being about saying a big agressive f**k you to everyone else,” one person wrote, with another pointing out that these vehicles were “bigger than the Australian Standard parking spaces which were designed to accommodate the largest 4WDs or a small van from approximately 2004”.

There's a push to slap insulting stickers like these on offending vehicles. Picture: Imgur

Many have argued the trucks aren’t even a legitimate ‘tradie vehicle’.

“Fun fact: It has a smaller load capacity than a 2WD HiLux Workmate … I don’t understand how these types of trucks are so popular when they’re so woefully incapable,” another posted.

“Carrying capacity sucks, towing capacity sucks, handling sucks, braking sucks, off-road ability sucks, fuel economy seems like they’re actively competing for the worst numbers … and yet they’re still insanely expensive and people are falling over themselves to buy them.”

And in yet another example, another of these vehicles was photographed taking up three car bays, with a Redditor posting it was likely “used to carry fragile egos”.

Meanwhile, many Australians have suggested printing off insulting stickers and slapping them on the vehicles when they are spotted taking up multiple car parks.

Alex Jeffs, automotive expert at comparison site Finder, recently told news.com.au that there were several reason for the popularity of these vehicles, including Australia’s historic passion for utes.

“Covid for instance saw the rise of the staycation. With more people buying caravans, many of these large trucks have much larger towing capacities than your standard ute,” he said.

“The popular RAM 1500 can tow 4.5 tonnes compared to the Toyota HiLux, which is one of Australia’s favourites and good for 3.5 tonnes.

“You also see a lot of them kitted out with toolboxes and the like in the back and as some of these large trucks are being used for work purposes, there are tax incentives that make them appealing to businesses.”