A LITTLE more than a year after the VE Commodore sedan rolled onto Australian roads, the two-door utility derivative has finally been launched. More sporty than ever, the new Ute shows Holden is keener than ever to corner the lifestyle ute market by attracting drivers who are not necessarily going to use their load hauler for work. The One Tonner and Crewman models have been axed and there are no plans for VE versions of those models. The new Ute introduces all the improvements that were made with the VE Commodore, but Holden still spent $105.1 million on further development. Variants available include the base Omega, SV6, SS and the new top-end SS V model. Holden has introduced electronic stability control as standard for all new Ute models, which is an important safety step, but is not offering side airbags, even as an option. The VE Ute range starts at $30,990 for the Omega and tops out at $46,990 for the SS V automatic.