Ranger Outrunning Hilux in NZ Pickup Sales Race

The Ford Ranger is on course to end the Toyota Hilux’s 32-year run as New Zealand’s best-selling pickup.

Motor Industry Assn. figures show the Ranger stretching its lead as the country’s top-selling commercial model to 283 units after 10 months with 5,061 deliveries – up 31% year-on-year – for a 16% market share, just ahead of long-time market-leader Hilux with 4,778, also a 16% market share.

The Ranger outsold the Hilux in October, 627 units to 514.

The Ranger now is within striking distance of New Zealand’s top-selling light vehicle, the Toyota Corolla, with only 26 units separating them.

Across the Tasman Sea in Australia, the Ranger has broken each of its monthly sales records through October.

Sales for the year’s first 10 months were up 25% to 22,539 units, more than in all of 2013. The Ranger increased its share of the CV segment to 15.5%, up 50% from 2011.

Retail sales, a combination of private and small-fleet purchases, accounted for 61% of Ranger deliveries through October, up from 59% at the same time in 2013.

“The fact that Ranger was designed and engineered in Australia means it has proven capability in our harsh conditions, something that our customers recognize,” Ford Australia Marketing Chief Graeme Whickman says in a statement.