VFACTS July 2024: Rising hybrid sales sees the Toyota RAV4 outsell the Ford Ranger

Ford’s stranglehold as the best-selling car in Australia was weakened in July, with the Toyota RAV4 replacing it atop the monthly sales charts.

A total of 4915 Ford Rangers were sold, 1018 sales short of Toyota’s RAV4, which ended the month with 5933 new vehicles in customer hands. Interestingly, most RAV4 sales were hybrid variants, indicating a consumer shift from combustion to hybrid power.

“Consistent with trends in many overseas markets, sales of hybrid vehicles are up 88.4 per cent and plug-in hybrid vehicles are up 128.9 per cent compared with July 2023,” said FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber.

“The hybrid performance is highlighted by the fact that the Toyota RAV4 was the top-selling vehicle for the month ahead of Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux. Most RAV4 sales are hybrids,” Weber added.

The Toyota HiLux (4747 sales), Corolla (2688) and LandCruiser (2464) rounded out the five best-selling individual models in July, highlighting a dominant month for the Japanese marque. In fact, Toyota ended with 22,705 overall sales in July, well ahead of Mazda (8476), Ford (7749,) Kia (6620) and Hyundai (6021).

Eliminate two-wheel drive variants from the mix, though, and the Ford Ranger remains the best-selling vehicle in Australia. With an accumulated total of 4610 sales in July, the Ranger 4x4 pipped its closest competitor, the Toyota HiLux, by 485 sales. The Ranger and HiLux were then trailed by the Everest (2162), Isuzu D-MAX (1859) and Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series (1540).

In a one-two punch for Ford, the Everest led the 300 Series and MU-X to be the most sought-after SUV wagon in Australia in July. The Nissan Patrol is also having a nice, little purple patch at the moment, sneaking into the top ten by registering 664 sales in July. That is an increase of 42.5 per cent compared to July 2023, and 37.9 per cent year-to-date compared to 2023.

Jeep slashed the price of its Gladiator in July, but it still could only muster 21 sales during the month – however, we might not see the result of the price deduction until the August results are in. Plus, Volkswagen’s Amarok once again resides behind the ten best-selling vehicles, with only 480 sales registered for the month.

The battle for best budget brawler was tight in July, with GWM’s Ute slipping ahead of LDV’s T60 by just 42 sales (596 versus 554) – SsangYong ended the month with 222 deliveries. At the opposite end of the price sheet, the Chevrolet Silverado (317) outsold both the RAM 1500 (249) and Ford F-150 (192).

Overall, sales in the LCV segment are up from 19,244 (July 2023) to 21,707 (July 2024). In particular, the PU/CC 4x4 segment has lifted from 15,079 to 16,193 sales.

Best-selling 4x4s in July 2024

Best-selling 4x4s YTD