THE war for the hearts, minds and wallets of cashed-up tradies Australia-wide has started. The first TV ad for the HSV SportsCat – the first of a number of enhanced dual-cab trade ute-based ‘brodozers’ to launch this year – has aired on television.

The HSV SportsCat, priced from $60,790 for the regular SportsCat and $66,790 for the SportsCat+, represents HSV’s most radical change in the performance brand’s 30-year history. After years of fettling high-performance versions of the Holden Commodore – let history condemn versions of the Isuzu-sourced Jackeroo, Nissan Pulsar-based Astra and badge-engineered Opel Astra VXR that also wore the badge – it’s the first model that shows just how much the landscape has changed for the company.

The HSV SportsCat – it differs from the four-cylinder turbo-diesel Holden Colorado on which it is based via a number of off-road tuning enhancements, but gains no extra under-bonnet poke – will soon have a bit of keen competition on its hands.

But the big one will be the arrival of the Ford Ranger Raptor, a twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel version of the Australian designed and engineered workhorse that’s also due here by the end of the year. It cedes some of the workmanlike ability of the Ranger ute, but like the HSV SportsCat promises enhanced off-road ability.