Ford Ranger is Australia’s best-selling 4x4 for 2017

THE FORD Ranger was Australia’s best-selling 4x4 in 2017, with a total of 36,932 units driving off the showroom floor for the calendar year.

That people flocked to the Blue Oval in 2017 was representative of a steady increase in sales for the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market. LCV sales held a 19.9 per cent share of the total market in 2017, up from an 18.5 per cent share in 2016.

Rounding out the top three best-selling 4x4s for the year were the Toyota Hilux (35,297 sales) and Mitsubishi Triton (20,513).

According to the VFACTS report, “FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said that while the stability of the Australian economy and low interest rates were influential factors in the overall market growth, it was the fierce competition within the market place between brands which provided the momentum.”

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It was also a record-breaking year for overall car sales, with 1,189,116 sales reached in 2017, making it a 0.9 per cent increase on 2016. The 102,820 overall sales in December was also a record for that month, up 4.1 per cent on the previous year.

The best-selling model on the overall 2017 sales charts was the Toyota Hilux (4x4 and 4x2 variants combined).

The Hilux was also the best-selling model in December with 3949 sales. It was followed by the Holden Astra (3533), Ford Ranger 4x4 and 4x2 (3458), Holden Colorado 4x4 and 4x2 (3222) and Mazda3 (2807).