Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux: Who's winning the ute sales race in Australia?

The Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux are locked in a neck-and-neck race for the title of Australia’s best-selling car in 2023.

To the end of September 2023 the pair are both sitting on more than 43,000 deliveries according to VFACTS data, comfortably ahead of the Tesla Model Y (23,457 deliveries), MG ZS and ZS T (23,152 deliveries), and Toyota RAV4 (22,388 deliveries).

The HiLux is currently leading the overall race with 44,301 deliveries, with the Ranger nipping at its heels with 43,073.

The Ranger remains Ford Australia’s most important car, to the point it’s rented a ship of its own to bring the ute (and its Everest SUV spinoff) to local showrooms from the factory in Thailand.

It represents a whopping 70 per cent of the brand’s local sales; growing to 87 per cent if you include the closely related Everest.

The HiLux accounts for just shy of 30 per cent of Toyota Australia’s sales to date this year.

On the sales charts, both HiLux and Ranger are comfortably ahead of the chasing pack of dual-cab utes. The Isuzu D-Max is well behind in third place.

When it comes to the cheaper, simpler 4×2 utes favoured by big fleets, the HiLux is comfortably leading the charge.

But when it comes to the more expensive (and profitable) 4×4 sales in Australia, the Ford Ranger remains the king.

The overall sales charts tell an interesting story.