The Aussie-designed ute that could end the Toyota HiLux’s seven-year run as Australia’s bestselling car – as new motoring trend emerges
The Melbourne-designed Ford Ranger could end the Toyota HiLux's seven-year unbeaten run as Australia's top seller.
The Ranger was No. 1 in November, after also being the monthly bestseller in October, July, April, February and January.
The ute, designed in Melbourne but made in Thailand, has now been Australia's best-selling vehicle for six out of 11 months, with the HiLux taking the top spot for the remaining five months.
Should the Ford win another monthly sales race in December, Australia would have a new annual bestseller for the first time since 2016, when the HiLux ute replaced the Toyota Corolla as the new number 1.
It would also be the first Australian-designed car to win the annual sales race since the Holden Commodore in 2010, and it would be the first best-selling Ford since the locally designed and built Falcon won in 1995.
Both models were available as ute.
Last month, 6,301 Rangers were sold – 400 more than the HiLux number of 5,901, data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries shows.
So far in 2023, the HiLux is still marginally ahead with 55,968 sales, compared to 55,589 for the Ranger – with just 379 orders between them.
The Ranger is a newer model that launched in 2022 and saw sales 24 percent higher than a year ago, while the HiLux form has been around since 2015 with a facelift in 2020.
The Melbourne-designed Ford Ranger could end the Toyota HiLux's seven-year run as an annual bestseller in Australia
Utes made it into the top three in November, with the Isuzu D-Max in third place with 3,692 sales.
For the second month in a row, there were no sedan or hatchback models in the top 10, while passenger cars made up just 16 percent of sales in November.
This phenomenon occurs six years after Australia stopped making cars, with Holden, Ford and Toyota previously focusing mainly on producing traditional passenger cars for government fleets.
By comparison, all-wheel drive SUVs and SUVs with higher ground clearance had a 55.6 percent market share, taking seven of the top ten spots.
The all-electric Tesla Model Y was the best-selling SUV with 3,151 sales, putting it ahead of the soon-to-be-replaced Toyota Prado (3,090 sales), Toyota RAV4 (2,449 sales), Toyota LandCruiser (2,423 sales), Mitsubishi Outlander (2,381 sales), Mazda CX-5 (2,256 sales) and the MG ZS (2,047 sales).
Higher interest rates have failed to undermine momentum in the auto industry, with 112,141 vehicles sold last month – a record for November.
But Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber said the momentum is unlikely to continue.
“As pressure on the cost of living increases, we could see a cooling of the market in the coming months and expect a more challenging 2024,” he said.
Should the Ford win another monthly sales race, Australia would have a new annual bestseller since 2016, when the HiLux ute (pictured) replaced the Toyota Corolla as the new number 1
So far this year, 1,118,236 vehicles have been sold, with SUVs making up more than half or 627,187 of total sales.
Light commercials, including utes and vans, followed with 248,546 units, putting them well ahead of passenger cars at 195,116 units.
Before 2016, Australia's annual number one had only been a passenger car, with the Australian-made Commodore holding the crown from 1996 to 2010, before the Mazda3 became the first fully imported annual bestseller in 2011.
A Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid will come to Australia in early 2025.
Tesla has yet to announce whether the Cybertruck will be made for right-hand drive markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Japan and Thailand.