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HiLux who? New Ford Ranger trumps Toyota as all-new model thumps the ageing icon

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The Ford Ranger was Australia's best-selling vehicle in January.
The Ford Ranger was Australia's best-selling vehicle in January.

The new Ford Ranger climbed to the top of Australia's sales charts in January, with the Blue Oval's ute topping the Toyota HiLux to be crowned the country's best-selling vehicle.

It's a mega result for the Ranger, helping lift Ford to third position on the brand chart for January. But while the battle was won by Ford, the war remains with Toyota, which topped the brand chart last month with a massive 13,363 sales.

But let's stick with the utes for a moment. Ford's new Ranger found 4749 homes in January, up a massive 46.3 per cent on the 3245 sales the now-extinct version managed in the same month of 2022.

That was enough to push the HiLux into second position, with Toyota's top-seller managing 4131 sales (up 15 per cent on January 2021).

The Ranger's sales were strong enough to push Ford into third position on the brand list, with 6624 sales (more than 70 per cent of which were Ranger), behind Mazda (9407 sales) and Toyota (13,363 sales), but ahead of Kia (6006 sales) and Hyundai (5809 sales).

Rounding out the top 10 were Mitsubishi in sixth position (5276), followed MG (4015 sales), Subaru (3601 sales), Tesla (3313 sales) and Isuzu (2671 sales). Those last two are especially impressive, given Tesla and Isuzu each only have two models on sale in this market, and yet both have snuck into the top 10.

It's a tale of utes and electrified vehicles in the best-selling model list, with seven of the top 10 vehicles either a ute, or offering some sort of electrification.

We know that the Ranger and HiLux finished in one and two, but following on their heels in spots three through five were the Tesla Model 3 (2927 sales), the Mazda CX-3 (2417 sales), and the Mazda CX-5 (2189 sales).

The CX-3 was Mazda's best selling model in January.
The CX-3 was Mazda's best selling model in January.

The Tesla Model 3 result is particularly impressive, given it's the highest a pure EV model has ever ranked on the sales charts.

Rounding out the top 10 were the RAV4 (1958 sales), the Isuzu D-Max (1843 sales) the MG ZS (1842 sales), the Mitsubishi Outlander (1674 sales) and the Hyundai Tucson (1615 sales). 

The industry more generally continued its bounce back last month, with January the strongest start to the year since 2018. A total 84,873 vehicles were delivered, an 11.9 per cent increase on the same month last year.

“This data is the best January result since 2018 and shows that the industry is continuing to recover following years of supply chain disruption and delay,” says FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.

Most popular brands of January 2023

RankingBrandSalesVariance %
1Toyota13,363-12.8
2Mazda9407-4.1
3Ford6624+46.3
4Kia6006+8.8
5Hyundai5809+13.3
6Mitsubishi5276-19.2
7MG4015+13.5
8Subaru3601+32.3
9Tesla3313--
10Isuzu2671-1.6

Most popular models of January 2023

RankingModelSalesVariance %
1Ford Ranger4749+46.3
2Toyota HiLux4131+15.0
3Tesla Model 32927--
4Mazda CX-32417+167.1
5Mazda CX-52189-31.9
6Toyota RAV41958+37.4
7Isuzu D-Max1843-2.7
8MG ZS1843+16.0
9Mitsubishi Outlander1674+23.8
10Hyundai Tucson1615+108.4
Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
Andrew Chesterton should probably hate cars. From his hail-damaged Camira that looked like it had spent a hard life parked at the end of Tiger Woods' personal driving range, to the Nissan Pulsar Reebok that shook like it was possessed by a particularly mean-spirited demon every time he dared push past 40km/h, his personal car history isn't exactly littered with gold. But that seemingly endless procession of rust-savaged hate machines taught him something even more important; that cars are more than a collection of nuts, bolts and petrol. They're your ticket to freedom, a way to unlock incredible experiences, rolling invitations to incredible adventures. They have soul. And so, somehow, the car bug still bit. And it bit hard. When "Chesto" started his journalism career with News Ltd's Sunday and Daily Telegraph newspapers, he covered just about everything, from business to real estate, courts to crime, before settling into state political reporting at NSW Parliament House. But the automotive world's siren song soon sounded again, and he begged anyone who would listen for the opportunity to write about cars. Eventually they listened, and his career since has seen him filing car news, reviews and features for TopGear, Wheels, Motor and, of course, CarsGuide, as well as many, many others. More than a decade later, and the car bug is yet to relinquish its toothy grip. And if you ask Chesto, he thinks it never will.
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