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.
Last year, sales of the top five selling utes 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.
So far this year, the most interesting thing about the ute sales chart is the arrival of the new BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid, which has earned some great reviews:
| Top Selling Utes 2024 |
Top Selling Utes February 2025 |
Top Selling Utes 2025 |
| 1 Ford Ranger (11,748) | 1 Toyota Hilux (601) | 1 Toyota Hilux (1215) |
| 2 Toyota Hilux (7296) | 2 Ford Ranger (526) | 2 Ford Ranger (1079) |
| 3 Mitsubishi Triton (4231) | 3 Mitsubishi Triton (265) | 3 Mitsubishi Triton (518) |
| 4 Nissan Navara (1890) | 4 BYD Shark 6 (178) | 4 BYD Shark 6 (372) |
| 5 Isuzu D-Max (1296) | 5 Nissan Navara (166) | 5 Nissan Navara (334) |
To give the above figures some context, here are the five top-selling passenger cars for the same periods, which highlight the ongoing strength of ute sales:
| Top Selling Cars 2024 | Top Selling Cars February 2025 | Top Selling Cars 2025 |
| 1 Toyota RAV4 (10,533) | 1 Toyota RAV4 (719) | 1 Toyota RAV4 (1739) |
| 2 Mitsubishi ASX (3763) | 2 Mitsubishi Outlander (426) | 2 Kia Seltos (646) |
| 3 Mitsubishi Outlander (3248) | 3 Kia Seltos (285) | 3 Mitsubishi Outlander (641) |
| 4 Kia Seltos (3140) | 4 Mitsubishi ASX (245) | 4 Mitsubishi ASX (569) |
| 5 Suzuki Swift (2704) | 5 MG ZS (195) | 5 Suzuki Swift (427) |
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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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