Utes are the most popular vehicles in New Zealand. As you can see from the tables below, the 2023 sales figures for the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Hilux were impressive. Despite the Ute Tax, they placed first and third on the overall list of the year’s best-selling vehicles.
In the table below, we list the top-selling utes in New Zealand based on sales data from the Motor Industry Association. It’s interesting to note that after very low sales for utes last December – Ranger 198, Hilux 106, HiAce 31 and Triton 28 – in the lead-up to the scrapping of the Ute Tax, sales numbers have rebounded so far this year.
Overall, sales of the top five selling utes of 2024 are up slightly (4%) on the same period last year, when the same utes featured. This compares favourably with the sales figures of the top five selling passenger cars, which have dropped by 4%.
Overall, all passenger car sales this year are down by 21% on the same period last year, dropping from 101,938 to 80,238. While commercial vehicle sales, including utes, are up close to 3%, from 37,318 to 38,298.
| Top Selling Utes 2023 |
Top Selling Utes November 2024 |
Top Selling Utes Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Ford Ranger 9907 | 1 Ford Ranger 814 | 1 Ford Ranger 10,273 |
| 2 Toyota Hilux 8054 | 2 Toyota Hilux 551 | 2 Toyota Hilux 6871 |
| 3 Mitsubishi Triton 3105 | 3 Mitsubishi Triton 259 | 3 Mitsubishi Triton 4052 |
| 4 Toyota HiAce 1818 | 4 Toyota HiAce 120 | 4 Nissan Navara 1817 |
| 5 Nissan Navara 1143 | 5 Nissan Navara 114 | 5 Toyota HiAce 1660 |
To give the above figures some context, here are the five top-selling passenger cars for 2023 and year to date 2024, which highlight the ongoing strength of ute sales:
| Top Selling Cars 2023 | Top Selling Cars Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Toyota RAV4 (8757) | 1 Toyota RAV 4 (9539) |
| 2 Mitsubishi Outlander (4058) | 2 Mitsubishi ASX (3525) |
| 3 Tesla Model Y (3936) | 3 Mitsubishi Outlander (3113) |
| 4 Suzuki Swift (3922) | 4 Kia Seltos (2976) |
| 5 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (3638) | 5 Suzuki Swift (2555) |
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About the author of this page
Bruce Pitchers is the Content Manager at Canstar New Zealand. An experienced finance reporter, Bruce has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and New Zealand, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ.
Bruce started his career as an entertainment journalist before turning his pen to sport and fitness content, working for some of Australia’s leading sports magazines. Bruce then moved his focus to the world of finance and worked as a freelance writer and editor for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald’s Cooking the Books podcast, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from his desk at Canstar, Bruce spends many hours creating and editing puzzles for magazine and newspaper titles in the USA and Australasia, including Woman’s Day and New Idea. To that end, he is the co-author of the murder-mystery puzzle book 5 Minute Murder.
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