Utes are the most popular vehicles in New Zealand. In the table below, we list the top-selling utes in New Zealand based on sales data from the Motor Industry Association.
Overall, sales of the top five selling utes of 2024 were up (14%) on 2023’s figures, when the same vehicles featured. This compares favourably with the sales figures of the top five selling passenger cars, which dropped by 4%.
Overall, passenger car sales last year were down 21% on 2023’s numbers, dropping from 110,488 to 87,435. While commercial vehicle new registrations, including utes, were up close to 7.5%, rising from 38,518 to 41,393.
| Top Selling Utes 2023 |
Top Selling Utes December 2024 |
Top Selling Utes of 2024 |
| 1 Ford Ranger 9907 | 1 Ford Ranger 1476 | 1 Ford Ranger 11,748 |
| 2 Toyota Hilux 8054 | 2 Toyota Hilux 426 | 2 Toyota Hilux 7296 |
| 3 Mitsubishi Triton 3105 | 3 Mitsubishi Triton 179 | 3 Mitsubishi Triton 4231 |
| 4 Nissan Navara 1143 | 4 Nissan Navara 73 | 4 Nissan Navara 1890 |
| 5 Isuzu D-Max 1035 | 5 Isuzu D-Max 53 | 5 Isuzu D-Max 1296 |
To give the above figures some context, here are the five top-selling passenger cars for 2023 and 2024, which highlight the ongoing strength of ute sales:
| Top Selling Cars 2023 | Top Selling Cars Year 2024 |
| 1 Toyota RAV4 (8757) | 1 Toyota RAV 4 (10,533) |
| 2 Mitsubishi Outlander (4058) | 2 Mitsubishi ASX (3763) |
| 3 Tesla Model Y (3936) | 3 Mitsubishi Outlander (3248) |
| 4 Suzuki Swift (3922) | 4 Kia Seltos (3140) |
| 5 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (3638) | 5 Suzuki Swift (2704) |
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About the author of this page
Bruce Pitchers is Canstar NZ’s Content Manager. An experienced finance reporter, he has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and NZ, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. As a freelancer, he has worked 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, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines and newspapers, including Woman’s Day and New Idea. He is also the co-author of the murder-mystery puzzle book 5 Minute Murder.
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