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Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger top Australian car sales as utes dominate for fourth year in a row

The Toyota HiLux has coasted to its fourth annual new-car sales win, with the Ford Ranger in second place for the third year in a row.


Utes have cemented themselves as Australia’s favourite cars, with the Toyota HiLux becoming the nation’s top-selling vehicle outright for the fourth year in a row – as pick-ups filled the top two positions for the third year in succession.

According to official new-car sales results for 2019 released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), the Toyota HiLux (47,649) cruised to a comfortable win ahead of the second-placed Ford Ranger (40,960). 

However, a sales push on 4x4 variants of the Ford Ranger and the overall market slump of 7.8 per cent dented the HiLux’s dominance, with Toyota not able to repeat its previous year’s record result of 51,705 utes reported as sold. 

A highlight for Ford: Ranger 4x4 variants (37,004) outsold HiLux 4x4 variants (36,325) in a full calendar year for the second time (the first being in 2017).

The silver lining for Toyota: buoyed by sharp drive-away deals at the end of the year, sales of HiLux 4x4 variants in December (3264) brought to an end the eight-month winning streak of Ford Ranger 4x4 variants (3099). 

The figures show just how reliant Ford is on the Ranger’s success, representing 64 per cent of the brand’s sales in 2019. By comparison, the HiLux represented 23 per cent or just shy of one-in-four of all new Toyotas sold last year.

Meanwhile, the Toyota Corolla (30,468) and Hyundai i30 (28,378) small cars finished the 2019 sales race in third and fourth place ahead of another ute, the Mitsubishi Triton, which posted a strong result (25,819) to round out the Top Five.

Official figures for December 2019 show new-car sales slowed for the 21st month in a row – the longest downturn since the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago and the weakest December since 2011 – as consumer confidence continued to wane and tighter credit requirements saw an increase in the number of finance applications knocked back.

The annual result of 1,062,867 vehicles reported as sold was the lowest tally since 2011, a decline of 7.8 per cent compared to 2018 – and the second year in a row the car industry went backwards after three record years in succession.

Ute dominance: 2019 new-car sales official results

  • Toyota HiLux: 47,649, down 7.8 per cent
  • Ford Ranger: 40,960, down 2.8 per cent
  • Toyota Corolla: 30,468, down 13.7 per cent
  • Hyundai i30: 28,378, up 0.7 per cent
  • Mitsubishi Triton: 25,819, up 3.7 per cent
  • Mazda CX-5: 25,539, down 2.4 per cent
  • Mazda3: 24,939, down 19.7 per cent 
  • Toyota RAV4: 24,260, up 9.5 per cent
  • Kia Cerato: 21,757, up 16.8 per cent
  • Mitsubishi ASX: 20,806, up 9.3 per cent
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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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