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The Toyota HiLux is on track to secure its seventh consecutive annual win in the new-car sales race, after overtaking its previous annual record with two months of this year remaining.
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Australians continue to treat themselves to a record number of utes, with four workhorses turned weekend getaway vehicles among the Top 10 sellers last month.
Demand for four-wheel-drives and double-cab utes went off the charts during the pandemic amid international travel restrictions, as more Australians chose to holiday at home.
Even though international borders are now open, sales of utes and four-wheel-drives remain strong amid soaring prices for airline travel.
The Toyota HiLux is on track to achieve its seventh year at the top of the sales charts – the first ute to lead the Australian new-car market – after eclipsing its previous annual record with two months remaining.
The Toyota HiLux year-to-date tally to the end of October 2022 of 54,680 sales is 3.6 per cent higher than the previous annual record of 52,801 examples reported as sold for the entire 2021 calendar year.
A surge in deliveries of the Ford Ranger elevated it to top spot for the month of October 2022 – ahead of the Toyota HiLux – for the first time since December 2021.
The Ford Ranger’s 4×4 tally was strong enough to beat the Toyota HiLux 4×2 and 4×4 total last month.
The rest of the ute market looks like a war zone.
The Isuzu D-Max has slipped to fourth in the ute class year-to-date after mass arrivals of the Mitsubishi Triton.
However, the mainstream ute under the biggest threat is the Nissan Navara.
The Nissan Navara was outsold by both Chinese utes – the LDV T60 and Great Wall Motors Ute – last month, both of which have posted big increases year-to-date versus the Nissan Navara’s sharp decline amid stock shortages.
Near the tail-end of the Top 10-selling utes (excluding Toyota LandCruiser, Jeep Gladiator, Ram and Chevrolet pick-ups), the Volkswagen Amarok is now well and truly in runout ahead of the second-generation, Ford Ranger-based model due early next year.
Volkswagen says there could be a brief blackout in Australian showrooms between old and new Amarok models.
Here’s what the ute battle looks like so far this year (click here for a full market report for October 2022):
| Ute sales ranking year-to-date | October 2022 | October 2022 year-to-date |
| Toyota HiLux | 4884 (up 23.3 per cent) | 54,680 (up 22.2 per cent) |
| Ford Ranger | 5628 (up 36.1 per cent) | 37,743 (down 9.5 per cent) |
| Mitsubishi Triton | 1679 (up 182 per cent) | 24,884 (up 48.6 per cent) |
| Isuzu D-Max | 1951 (up 15.2 per cent) | 21,195 (down 2.3 per cent) |
| Mazda BT-50 | 602 (down 49.2 per cent) | 10,606 (down 21.7 per cent) |
| Nissan Navara | 654 (down 52 per cent) | 9479 (down 17.6 per cent) |
| Great Wall Motors Ute | 692 (up 22.4 per cent) | 6292 (up 9.0 per cent) |
| LDV T60 | 893 (up 93.7 per cent) | 4588 (up 18.8 per cent) |
| VW Amarok | 446 (down 13.4 per cent) | 3407 (down 50.6 per cent) |
| Ssangyong Musso | 216 (down 5.7 per cent) | 1336 (down 17.2 per cent) |
Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFACTS new-car sales report, October 2022.
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