Time for a new car? How about an $80,000 ute?

When Nick Gatacre started selling real estate 11 years ago he was told he couldn't drive a ute to work. It would send the wrong signals. Now, as principal of hockingstuart South Yarra, servicing Melbourne's upmarket South Yarra and Toorak areas, he attends open for inspections in a $75,000 Mercedes-Benz...ute.

Gatacre, 32, exemplifies one of the strongest motoring trends: the gentrification of a vehicle once the preserve of miners, farmers and tradies. He has moved from driving a luxury sedan to an SUV to a twin-cab four-wheel-drive ute, the last change made soon after Mercedes introduced its X-Class range in April.