About Us

The development dream of the Avatar UTV product goes back to the 1960s and some may well remember the three wheel Gnat being released.

However my first serious interest started in early 2006 after a friend, newly married, had a serious accident. Looking more closely at the ATV involved and the ACC, records showed stats that 83% of annual farm accidents were related to ATVs. This equated to 850 incidents along with several deaths per year.

Even then, due to the costs to Government through ACC, the market was starting to respond negatively toward the quad [ATV], and the UTV via traditional brand manufacturers was beginning to increase sales activity levels, as a result with one product doubling sales annually over a three year period.

However at the retail user level, research showed that the main reason farmers were looking at making the change from ATV to UTV was:

  • The high cost of repairs and maintenance on the ATV
  • The high consumption of fuel

Traditional brand products such as Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Polaris, etc., use their biggest quad to form the basis of their UTV. Their UTV is now only a quad with a steering wheel and a seating position same as a Ute or tractor. As a consequence, the operators’ mental approach to operating capacity now includes the ability to carry a passenger and a load on the deck. Their mental approach changes from that of a quad to something far greater, resulting in the operating costs and fuel consumption, in fact increasing, due to over loading.

The success of any product in the competitive selling situation is to have multiple points of difference [ features and benefits ] that meet the consumer demands compared to others on the market.

Our target consumer in New Zealand is the working farmer, not the recreational user that the traditional brand products are primarily built for, being more casual users in generally lighter application.

Experience throughout NZ has shown us a wide and varied range of applications much of which can readily be seen, even by the inexperienced, as being beyond the design expectation. We recognise this, and as a consequence, build our machine using Automotive based components, engines, transmissions, axles, driveshaft’s, steering racks etc., so adding strength, durability and reliability.


Our Team

  • Hamish Gilbert
  • Barry Giles
  • Geoff Hennah   
  • Jiffy Fu   
  • Jason Coley