Ranger leading the Hilux

The Ford Ranger is now leading Toyota’s Hilux by 968 units with three months of the race remaining to become New Zealand’s top ute of 2023.

The Ranger, pictured, is sitting on 7,834 year-to-date registrations compared to its closest rival’s 6,848.

The current position follows the blue oval’s ute finishing September with 605 units and Toyota’s on 540 for monthly market shares of 21.9 and 19.6 per cent respectively.

Mitsubishi’s Triton was a distant third with 198. The top five for new commercials last month was rounded off by two vans – the Toyota Hiace with 176 units and Mercedes-Benz’s Sprinter on 141.

Overall, there were 2,759 new commercials registered in September. The total was down by 35.3 per cent from 4,264 in the same month of 2022. The top three marques were Toyota on 759, Ford with 647 and Mitsubishi on 198.

Drop in used sector

There were 430 used-imported commercials registered last month for a year-on-year decrease of 22.8 per cent from 557. The total so far in 2023 is now 4,704.

Toyota was the best-selling brand with 211 units and a market share of 49.1 per cent. Nissan claimed 19.1 per cent thanks to 82 registrations. Hino came third with 30 units and seven per cent.

As for models, September’s top used commercial was the Toyota Hiace on 147 for a 34.2 per cent market share. Nissan’s NV350 was second on 52 and the Toyota Regius came third with 33.