Ford Ranger leads 2017 4x4 sales race

AFTER 10 months the Ford Ranger remains the best-selling 4x4 of 2017.

A total of 30,674 4x4 Rangers have been sold by the Blue Oval so far this year, with the next best being Toyota’s 4x4 Hilux with 29,009 sales.

It’s a convincing lead in a booming segment; a segment set to ramp up in 2018 with the inclusion of some notable marques… namely Merc’s X-Class ute.

Despite the Ranger’s 2017 dominance, the Toyota Hilux was the best-selling 4x4 for October (2970 sales), leading the Ford Ranger (2648) and Mitsubishi Triton (1636).

October’s VFACTS report indicates that the SUV and LCV market continues to climb, with the SUV market up 1.2 per cent compared to October last year.

The report added: “Light commercials soared by 18.5 per cent in the same period on the back of a very strong market demand for 4x4 cab-chassis models (up by a remarkable 25.2 per cent in October, compared with the same month in 2016).

“Both business (up 19.1 per cent) and private (up 15.6 per cent) light commercial sales were strong during October.”

Despite a drop in the passenger-car market – down 3.8 per cent compared to October 2016 – total year-to-date industry sales are at 984,931 compared with 980,433 this time last year.

The overall best-selling vehicle in October was the Hyundai i30 (3983 units sold), followed by the 4x4/4x2 Hilux (3812), Corolla (3088), 4x4/4x2 Ranger (3074) and Holden Commodore (2418).