Ford Ranger beats HiLux to become Australia's best-selling vehicle

The Ford Ranger has become Australia’s best-selling vehicle after ending the Toyota HiLux’s seven-year run as number-one.

Ford’s ute trailed its arch-rival by just 379 units by the end of November and a massive 7767 registrations in December ensured it comfortably overtook the HiLux, which had 5143 registrations last month.

Ranger sales totalled 63,356 for 2023 versus 61,111 for the HiLux, making the ute the first Ford sales champion in Australia since the Falcon in 1995.

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4x4 versions of the Ranger proved to be its trump card. While it trailed the HiLux in 4x2 sales by more than 7000 units (5095 v 12,116), its 4WD models nearly outscored the equivalent HiLux models by nearly 10,000 units (58,261 v 48,995).

Successive record months for the Ranger helped, with December's tally beating November's 6301 units by nearly 1500.

Ranger sales grew exactly by a third (33%) year on year. In contrast, the HiLux's annual sales slipped by five per cent compared with 2022.

“There are so many people who play a role in the success of a vehicle," said Ford Australia president and CEO Andrew Birkic.

"For Ranger, that’s our team of designers, engineers and everyone at Ford who pours their passion into making the vehicle what it is, our dealers who are passionate about serving their customers and communities, and ultimately our Ranger customers whose passion for their vehicle is what gets us up in the morning.

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“This number one spot is thanks to the combined passion of all these people. Without any one of them, Ranger wouldn’t be where it is today.”

The Ranger's success came in a record year for Australia new-car sales, which surpassed 1.2 million units for the first time thanks to supply starting to catch up with demand after major chip shortages.

The locally designed and developed Ranger did have the advantage of being the much newer vehicle, having launched in the second half of 2022 in latest-generation form.

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The current HiLux has been around since 2015, albeit with significant updates over the years, including new variants such as the GR Sport (pictured above), with a new-generation HiLux not expected until 2025.

The HiLux became the first commercial vehicle to be the nation's favourite car in 2016. The Ranger has been the sales bridesmaid since 2017, and ran the HiLux close in 2021 before being thrashed in 2022.

"Ranger is an excellent vehicle and Ford is a strong competitor. There’s no doubt in the world that we would have liked to have made it eight years in a row as the number one vehicle, but it wasn’t to be and we never take anything for granted in the most competitive market in the world," said Toyota Australia's sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley.

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"On behalf of Toyota, I extend our congratulations to Ford and their dealers on a great result."

Hanley also pointed out that while the Ranger is Australia's top-selling vehicle overall, the HiLux still leads in certain parts of the nation.

"It’s now been the top seller in the Northern Territory for the past 23 years, in Queensland for 17 years straight, in Western Australia, 16 years in a row and in South Australia, each of the past three years – quite incredible when you look at that vehicle and its lifecycle timing," he said.

"These figures highlight the unbreakable connection Australians have with HiLux. It’s quite incredible and we do wish to extend our thanks to the very loyal HiLux customers for their commitment to our brand and ongoing loyalty."