Skyrocketing diesel costs hit ute and 4WD owners

Tradies and country drivers are being hit hard financially and there is little end in sight to the pain at the bowser, but the cause has now been revealed.

A spike in diesel prices has hit ute and four-wheel-drive owners hard in recent months.

Owners of some of the most popular vehicles in the country are paying between $75 and $100 more to fill their tanks.

The cost of filling a Toyota LandCruiser is now almost $250, up from $143 last year.

Meanwhile, owners of Australia’s two most popular vehicles, the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger, are paying more than $180 to fill up, compared with just $104 in 2021.

The Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger both use diesel fuel.

Last year, the national average price for diesel fuel was $1.30 a litre, according to figures published by the Australian Institute of Petroleum. The current national average for diesel is $2.26, a jump of almost a dollar a litre.

Roughly one in three new vehicles sold are powered by diesel, according to the latest sales figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

Diesel power is a popular choice for SUV and ute buyers because diesel vehicles are typically more fuel-efficient than petrol, especially at highway speeds and when towing. But the cost savings have been eroded by recent price hikes.

Toyota LandCruiser owners can expect to pay more than a $100 extra every time they fill up.

Lauren Cooney, a spokeswoman for the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), said the rise in fuel price would hit small businesses hard.

“Diesel is an industry fuel and is used far more than unleaded, for example in Queensland we consume more than twice as much diesel as we do petrol,” Ms Cooney said.

Diesel has traditionally been priced close to unleaded petrol but in recent months it has become significantly more expensive.

While the price of petrol has risen 42 cents a litre since 2021, diesel has jumped by 96 cents a litre.

Petrol and diesel used to be similarly priced.

That means owners of popular towing vehicles such as the Isuzu MU-X and Ford Everest have been hit with an extra $80 every time they fill up.

Families with large diesel-powered SUVs such as the Hyundai Santa Fe and Mazda CX-5 can expect to pay roughly $60 extra at the bowser.

And there’s more bad news for families on a budget, as diesel prices are expected to stay high for some time due to international factors.

“Russia is a major manufacturer and distributor of diesel, especially to the European market. With the ongoing war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russian exports, the global supply of diesel has fallen significantly, causing wholesale prices to rise and remain incredibly high,” said Ms Cooney.

Diesel isn’t just for commercial vehicles, but often powers large family SUVs.

Ms Cooney said diesel retail margins were well below normal at the moment, so further rises were on the cards.

“The production cost of diesel is similar to unleaded and both products are processed similarly. It’s supply and demand factors that are pushing up prices, rather than the production costs.

“With retail margins currently low for diesel, the bad news is prices are likely to continue to creep a little higher,” she said.

Diesel price increases are bad news for the wider community, as increased transport costs will flow on into the price of consumer goods.

Tradies could also become more expensive as they try to recoup transport costs.

Originally published as Skyrocketing diesel costs hit ute and 4WD owners