The Ford Ranger (above) might this year manage what no other vehicle has done in New Zealand for more than 30 years – knock the Toyota Hilux off its lofty perch as the most popular light commercial.
Going into the last four sales months of the year, Motor Industry Association (MIA) registrations show Ranger has sold 3842 variants against 3739 for Hilux, a lead by Ford at the end of August of 103 units. Indeed, Ranger was the overall best-selling vehicle in August, recording 548 sales against third-placed Hilux’s 413.
The MIA says year-to-date sales of commercial vehicles are unprecedented, up 21 per cent (4148 units) on 2013. “Registrations of 3106 new commercial vehicles for August reflects continued strong demand, being the strongest August sales since 1981 when the MIA began collecting records for commercials,” says its CEO David Crawford.
“If this trend continues it is possible total commercial vehicle sales for 2014 could exceed a staggering 36,000 units, some 5000 units above 2013 and 13,000 units above 2012.”
The race between Ranger and Hilux will intensify. Toyota will fight like a Kilkenny cat to hold on to its No.1 commercial crown. Hilux has been top dog for the past 32 years but the current model is on runout (a new one is due next year) and Ford has the sales edge, especially with 4WD variants. Ask Ranger buyers: on paper, they say, its 147kW/470Nm 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel engine appeals more than the four-cylinder 126kW/343Nm 3.0-litre unit in the Hilux.
Crawford said the strong New Zealand dollar and healthy economic confidence combined with competitive pricing was fuelling demand for new vehicles. “If these sales levels continue we could see around 124,000 new-vehicles sales for 2014, the highest on record. The highest on record was the 123,247 units in 1984”, he said.
August sales of 10,189 new passenger (7083) and commercial vehicles (3106) were up 8% on August 2013 and 13% year to date (9353 units) on this time last year. It is the strongest August sales month since August 1984.
Second on the August sales charts after Ranger was the Toyota Corolla (469). The Holden Commodore was fourth (314) after Hilux and the Honda Jaz fifth (265).
Top 10 passenger cars in August:
1. Toyota Corolla (468) 2. Holden Commodore (280) 3. Honda Jazz (265) 4. Holden Captiva (212) 5. Hyundai IX35 (205) 6. Toyota Highlander (189) 7. Suzuki Swift (177). 8. Toyota RAV4 (177) 9. Toyota Yaris (174) 10. Mazda CX-5 (164).
Top 10 passenger cars YTD:
1.Toyota Corolla (3209) 2. Holden Commodore (1979) 3. Suzuki Swift (1805) 4. Mazda CX-5 (1624) 5. Holden Captiva (1558) 6. Mazda3 (1522) 7. Toyota RAV4 (1447) 8. Hyundai Santa Fe (1270) 9. Volkswagen Golf (1250) 10. Hyundai IX35 (1249).
Top 10 commercials in August:
1. Ford Ranger (548) 2. Toyota Hilux (413) 3. Toyota Hiace (254) 4. Holden Colorado (237) 5. Mazda BT-50 (143) 6. Nissan Navara (107) 7.Mitsubishi Triton (105) 8. Mitsubishi L300 (89) 9. Ford Transit (84) 10. Isuzi D-Max (80).
Top 10 commercials YTD:
1. Ford Ranger (3842) 2. Toyota Hilux (3739) 3. Holden Colorado (1907) 4. Nissan Navara (1821) 5. Toyota Hiace (1805) 6. Mitsubishi Triton (1073) 7. Mazda BT-50 (1053) 8. Isuzi D-Max (835) 9. Ssangyong Actyon Sport (598) 10. Mitsubishi L300 (524).