Long live the new dual-cab ute king! Ford Ranger ends the Toyota HiLux's seven-year reign as Australia's best-selling vehicle

The Ford Ranger is the most popular vehicle in Australia, ending the Toyota HiLux's seven-year reign at the top of the sales charts after a nail-biting race to to the finish line in December.

But the official numbers are now in, and the Ford Ranger is our new dual-cab king, with 63,356 examples finding homes throughout 2023.

That was enough to topple the Toyota, with a total 61,111 examples of the HiLux sold over the course of the year. It ends an incredible reign for the HiLux, with the formidable dual-cab at the top of the sales charts from 2016 to 2022.

The two models were neck-and-neck going into December, with Toyota in the lead, shifting 55,968 utes versus Ford's 55,589. But Ford fought back in December, selling 7767 utes, compared to Toyota's 5143 examples.

“There are so many people who play a role in the success of a vehicle. For Ranger, that’s our team of designers, engineers and everyone at Ford who pours their passion into making the vehicle what it is, our dealers who are passionate about serving their customers and communities, and ultimately our Ranger customers whose passion for their vehicle is what gets us up in the morning,” says Andrew Birkic, President and CEO, Ford Australia.

“This number-one spot is thanks to the combined passion of all these people. Without any one of them, Ranger wouldn’t be where it is today.”

It's hard to know, just from the numbers, the role ute availability played, but Ford selling so many more utes in December suggests the US brand pulled out all the stops to get as many Rangers onto Australian soil as possible last month.

Picking up the bronze medal was the Isuzu D-Max, with the brand shifting a total 31,202 examples of its ute last year, while the Toyota RAV4 (29,627) and the MG ZS (29,258) rounded out the top-five for 2023.

But if Ford won the battle, Toyota won the war, with the Japanese giant Australia's best-selling brand in 2023, shifting a total 215,240 vehicles here last year,

Mazda slots into second place, with a total 100,008 sales, while Ford finished third with 87,800 sales (of which, more than 72 percent were the Ranger).

Spots four and five on the brand list were taken up by Korean siblings Kia and Hyundai, with the former toppling the latter to become Australia's most popular Korean brand, finishing with 76,120 sales versus 75,183 sales.