New year, same dual-cab king: Ford Ranger rampage continues as it outshines Toyota HiLux in monster January

The Ford Ranger has started 2024 in the same way it concluded 2023, with the Blue Oval's dual-cab ute again outshining the Toyota HiLux to be named Australia's favourite vehicle in January.

Outside the dual-cab race, it was a bumper month for new-vehicle sales, with a total 89,782 deliveries in January – up almost six percent on January last year, and breaking the existing record of 88,551 January sales which was set in 2018.

But the big news surely is the rise and rise of the Ford Ranger, recording another 4747 sales in January and outshining the Toyota HiLux, which recorded 4092 deliveries.

Read More About Ford Ranger

Catching up: Australia's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard finally locked in to encourage electric car uptake, details to be finalised ahead of launch in 2025 "Toyota is not anti EV": Japanese giant claps back at haters in Australia, but says it won't be dumping diesels anytime soon 2024 Tesla Model Y Performance price drop: Cost-of-entry down for Ford Mustang Mach-e, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 electric car competitor

In third place was another ute, the Isuzu D-Max, which chalked up 2541 sales, while fourth place was occupied by the Toyota RAV4 with 2211 deliveries. The Mitsubishi Outlander took fifth spot with 2077 sales.

In the battle of the brands, it's Toyota first (and daylight second), with the Japanese giant claiming 17,903 sales, which means one in five new vehicles sold here last month wore a Toyota badge.

Mazda finished the month in second, with 8165 sales, followed by Ford with 6624 sales, Hyundai with 6162 sales, and Mitsubishi with 5911 sales.

The FCAI (Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries) used the results as an opportunity to take a shot at the proposed New Vehicle Emissions Standards (NVES) announced over the weekend by the Albanese government, suggesting that the popularity of utes and SUVs presents "challenges" for the proposal – despite hybrid and PHEV sales booming.

The group's Chief Executive, Tony Weber, says the "sales of battery electric vehicles appear to have plateaued during recent months", despite electric SUV sales shooting up by 36.5 per cent in January. Electric passenger vehicles fell by 17.4 per cent, resulting in a net gain of 0.8 per cent in January.

Petrol vehicle sales fell by 5.8 per cent in the same month, while hybrid sales increased by 91.2 per cent, and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales increased by 123.7 per cent, while diesel sales went up by 8.8 per cent.

"The continuing preference for SUVs and utes demonstrates the challenges the Commonwealth Government is facing as it works to introduce a New Vehicle Emissions Standard,” Weber said.

“Industry wants an emissions standard that is ambitious without limiting the choice and increasing the cost of the vehicles Australians need and want.

“Even with the current incentives offered by the Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments, sales of battery electric vehicles appear to have plateaued during recent months."