Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux locked in battle for number one

The last month of the year is shaping up as a frantic one in the car industry as two heavyweights slug it out for showroom honours.

Thousands of tradies will get a new ute in their Christmas stocking this year as Ford and Toyota battle for the title of Australia’s favourite car.

The Toyota HiLux, which has been the number one selling vehicle in the country for the past seven years, was just 379 vehicles ahead of Ford’s locally designed and engineered Ranger at the end of November.

Both brands are pulling out all the stops to be top dog, delivering as many vehicles as possible to dealerships ahead of the Christmas break.

Ultimately it will be supply, not demand, that settles the argument, as there are huge backlogs of orders for both vehicles.

Toyota has struggled with supply issues all year, while Ford went to extreme lengths to shorten delivery times for the Ranger, leasing a ship for three years to avoid transit delays that have plagued the industry since Covid.

The Toyota HiLux has been number one for seven years but the Ford Ranger is hot on its heels. Picture: Mark Bean

Toyota vice president of marketing and sales Sean Hanley said the race would “go down to the wire”.

“They’re both excellent vehicles, which is great for the buying public. Ultimately, the winner will be determined by how many cars are available for delivery over the next 10 days. We always respect our rivals and take nothing for granted.”

Ford President Andrew Birkic said the success of the Ranger was due to the hard work of its employees and dealers.

“If we come away with a number one ranking at the end of the year, it’ll be thanks to the combined passion of all these people,” he said.

“We’d be incredibly proud to be recognised with the top spot – it’s a tough battle and we know it’ll go down to the wire. We embrace the challenge.”

For Ford, it would be a fairytale comeback. The last time it claimed number one spot was with the Falcon in 1995.

Ford last held the top spot in 1995 with the now discontinued Ford Falcon. Picture: Supplied.

For the next 15 years, it was the perennial bridesmaid to the Holden Commodore, which held the title of Australia’s favourite for 15 years before it was toppled by the Mazda3 small car in 2011.

The Mazda hatchback held the top spot for two years before Toyota’s Corolla assumed the title for three years.

Since then the HiLux has ruled the roost and Toyota has dominated the local car industry. This year will mark 21 years at the top for the Japanese brand.

The victory would be a sweet one for the Ford employees who survived the closure of the Geelong and Broadmeadows plants and the death of local manufacturing in 2014.

While Holden has ceased to be, Ford has risen from the ashes to become a global engineering and design hub for the Blue Oval.

Ford’s Ranger is designed and engineered in Australia. Picture: Mark Bean.

It employs more than 1000 engineers and designers and leads the development of the Ranger, which is sold in more than 180 countries worldwide.

The success of the Ranger, and its seven-seat wagon spin-off, the Everest, has propelled Ford past Kia, Hyundai and Mitsubishi to number three on the sales charts.

Regardless of the sales result, the Ranger will still have bragging rights as the top-selling four-wheel-drive in the country, a title that Toyota badly wants back.

Toyota is only still in the hunt because it sells far more two-wheel-drive HiLuxes than Ford does 2WD Rangers. The four-wheel-drive Ranger has outsold HiLux by more than 6000 units in the first 11 months of the year.

Four-wheel drive utes are big business. Picture: Mark Bean

Four-wheel-drives are where the profits are. Ford’s top-of-the-range Ranger Raptor costs more than $95,000 on the road.

Former Ford and Toyota senior executive Peter Evans said the number one title was about more than just short-term bragging rights.

“It’s more about demonstrating leadership and building consumer and dealer confidence. It’s an endorsement or vote of customer trust,” Mr Evans said.

“It was huge internally when Ford knocked off Holden for the first time and it was a similar situation at Toyota.”

He said Toyota’s dominance over the past 20 years had been created by “a beautiful combination of products and marketing driven by great people inside the organisation”.

Originally published as Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux locked in battle for number one