Ford Ranger dominates the September sales charts

THE FORD Ranger once again sits atop the 4x4 sales charts, with 3769 new units leaving the showroom floor in September.

In further good news for the Blue Oval, the Ford Ranger was the overall monthly best-selling vehicle with 4318 (4x4 and 4x2) rigs sold – a 43.7 per cent increase compared to September 2016.

With 4x2 variants added to the mix Ford has sold 32,620 Rangers so far in 2017, which is an increase of 21 per cent over the same period last year.

“With its locally led design and engineering, we’re immensely proud that Australian customers’ feedback has allowed us to deliver a line-up of Ranger models that not only offer class-leading towing and strong payload capabilities, but also offer the safety and comfort to make them extremely liveable everyday vehicles,” said Greg Davidson, Sales Director of Ford Australia.

The Toyota Hilux 4x4 ended the month with 2907 sales, while Mitsubishi’s Triton secured third spot on the podium with 1532 sales.

According to the September VFACTS report, pick-up and cab-chassis 4x4 LCVs were the growth segments for new-car sales – alongside small and medium SUVs.

Compared to September 2016, the 4x4 LCV segment was up 11 per cent.

In fact, the SUV and LCV segments account for 58.6 per cent of sales so far in 2017, up from 56.3 per cent at the same time last year.

A big reason for this continual growth is sales of 4x4 utes and cab-chassis variants in the private sector, with private sales of LCVs increasing by 9.6 per cent compared to September 2016 (business sales of LCVs are also up 7.9 per cent). Diesel remains the go-to engine type in the LCV market.

Despite the ongoing sales success of LCVs and SUVs, fewer new vehicles were sold on the overall market – 100,200 sales were recorded, a 2.4 per cent fall compared with September last year.

“Any month over 100,000 total sales has to be seen as a strong outcome, proving there is continued value for the consumer out in the market,” said Tony Weber, chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

“To keep this outcome in perspective, it has to be remembered that the September results of 2015 and 2016 were both very strong, and both those years ended in records.”

The Ford Ranger (4x4 and 4x2 variants) was Australia’s best-selling vehicle in September (4318 sales). This was followed by the 4x4/4x2 Hilux (3822), Corolla (3055), Mazda3 (2776) and Commodore (2547).