Will wave of new utes challenge Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger's dominance? 2025 Kia Tasman, BYD Shark 6, Foton Tunland will struggle topple the market leaders | Opinion

It’s been a busy period for new utes with all-new models coming our way from Kia, BYD, Foton, JAC and more to join the likes of the Mitsubishi Triton, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 in a highly competitive market.

But can any of them make an impact on the dominance of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux? To be blunt, it looks unlikely.

Competition tends to drive diversity amongst the segment, but the Ranger and HiLux are simply too far ahead of the rest of the pack to have any serious concerns of this flood of new rivals. Looking at the year-to-date sales figures (which cover the first nine months of the year) the Ford-Toyota duo account for more than half of all traditional utes sold (50.9 per cent) across both the 4x4 and 4x2 segments.

The nearest challenger is the Isuzu D-Max, but it has sold less than half the amount of units Ford has managed with the Ranger — 23,349 vs 48,362. The next best is the new Triton at just 13,368 sales between January and September, which is just 27 per cent of what Ford has managed.

So, why are these new brands bothering to fight what will almost-certainly be a losing battle? Because beating the Ranger and HiLux isn’t the goal, but instead claiming a piece of the large pie that is the ute segment will be enough to make a major impact for most brands, but especially newcomers like BYD, GWM and Foton.

The Mitsubishi Triton and the Nissan Navara are both amongst the best-selling models for their respective brands and it’s that success that is driving the newcomers.

Foton Tunland

The best example is arguably Kia, which has set the lofty goal of hitting 25,000 sales per annum with the Tasman. That would not only make it one of the best-selling utes (behind only the Ranger, HiLux and D-Max based on 2023 sales), it would make it Kia’s most popular model — and by some margin.

Kia’s best selling model in 2023 was the Sportage mid-size SUV with 15,747 buyers grabbing one, so even if the South Korean brand misses its target by 10,000 sales, it would still be its biggest sales hit.

The emergence of Chinese brands, namely BYD and GWM as well as the incoming JAC and Foton, could dramatically shift the landscape, without out-selling Ford and Toyota.

Ford Ranger

That’s because a large part of the success of the Ranger and HiLux has been driven by the high-end models, such as the Wildtrak, Raptor, Rogue and GR Sport, which in-turn has driven the price up and created a premium ute market.

However, these are still meant to be workhorse vehicles and that means affordable and hard-wearing, so if these new brands can fill that gap at the lower end of the market it will be an opportunity for them to rack up strong sales.

It will, potentially, create a two-tiered ute market in the future as it splits between ‘work’ and ‘play’ utes rather than the traditional model that was designed to do both.

Kia Tasman render (Image: Thanos Pappas)

But no matter what happens, expect the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux to lead the way — no matter how many new rivals attempt to knock them off.