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The Ford Ranger remained Australia’s best-selling car for the second year running, but the results for each state and territory suggest it was a closer race than the national figures show.
In 2024, amid another record year for new-car sales, the Ford Ranger was again the most popular vehicle in Australia, beating the Toyota RAV4 and Toyota HiLux.
However, the individual sales results for each state and territory reveal differences in buyer interests, with the sales in one state making the difference to Ford’s ute rising to the top of the charts.
In New South Wales – Australia’s largest new-car market – the best-selling vehicle in 2024 was the Toyota RAV4 (19,204) , followed by the Ford Ranger (17,662) and Toyota HiLux (15,004).
The Toyota Corolla made the top five in the state with 8003 deliveries recorded, beating the Mitsubishi Outlander (7224).
Nationally, the Outlander was the fifth best-selling car, while the Corolla was the seventh.
NSW total new-car sales in 2024: 369,035
While the Ford Ranger was the nation’s best-selling vehicle overall in 2024, it was only the most popular in Victoria and Tasmania, with the Toyota RAV4 and HiLux leading in other states and territories.
It was a comfortable lead for the Ranger in Victoria – where the ute was designed and engineered – with 19,095 sales, 4440 units ahead of the second-place Toyota RAV4 (14,655).
This result allowed the Ranger to become Australia’s best-selling vehicle overall, with the RAV4 being the best-seller combined in every state and territory excluding Victoria, followed by the HiLux.
Mid-size SUVs dominated new-car sales in the state in 2024, with this body type covering six of the 10 best-selling models – leaving Victoria as the only state without a traditional passenger car in its Top 10, the closest being the Toyota Corolla and Tesla Model 3 in 13th and 18th place, respectively.
Victoria total new-car sales in 2024: 328,307
The Toyota HiLux remained the top-selling vehicle in Queensland for the 18th consecutive year with 13,645 deliveries, more than 1000 units ahead of the Ford Ranger (12,525) and Toyota RAV4 (11,782).
In the state, the Isuzu MU-X off-road SUV outsold its Ford Everest rival – despite a significant lead for the Everest nationally – while the Mazda BT-50 made the top 10, narrowly beating the Mitsubishi Triton.
QLD total new-car sales in 2024: 263,337
Like Queensland, the Toyota HiLux did not break its streak as the top-selling vehicle in Western Australia, this time for the 17th year.
With 8414 sales, the HiLux surged ahead of the Ford Ranger (6882) and Toyota RAV4 (5861).
At the other end of the Top 10, the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series ute made the list with 2350 deliveries, beating the Tesla Model Y (2083) and Nissan X-Trail (2042).
WA total new-car sales in 2024: 130,780
South Australia was the only jurisdiction where two internal-combustion passenger vehicles placed in the top 10, with the Toyota Camry sedan appearing alongside the Corolla.
It was a tight race between the Toyota RAV4 and Ford Ranger as the state's top-seller, with 445 examples between the two models.
The Mitsubishi Outlander remained in the top four in the state for 2024, beating the Isuzu D-Max (2708) and Mazda CX-5 (2051).
SA total new-car sales in 2024: 80,789
The Subaru Forester (450) again appeared in Tasmania’s top 10 list, with a sixth-place finish ahead of the Ford Everest (442) and Toyota Corolla (439).
However the Subaru Outback – one of the vehicles used by the state’s police force – slipped to 15th place, down from seventh in 2023.
The Ford Ranger was the best-selling vehicle in the state with 1357 deliveries, followed by the Toyota RAV4 (1067) and HiLux (1046).
Tasmania total new-car sales in 2024: 20,332
Australian Capital Territory
Hybrid and electric vehicles dominated new-car sales in Australia’s capital, with the Toyota RAV4 (1105) beating the Tesla Model Y (819) – the ACT’s best-seller in 2023.
In the ACT, 98.3 per cent of all RAV4s sold were hybrid, the highest in the nation against an overall share of 95.2 per cent.
The Tesla Model Y (819) and Model 3 (777) placed second and third, followed by the Ford Ranger (384), Mitsubishi Outlander (384) and Toyota HiLux (362).
Like the RAV4, the ACT recorded the highest share of sales for the Outlander Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) with electrified variants accounting for 63 per cent of the nameplate’s sales, compared to 22.2 per cent nationally and 12.2 per cent in Tasmania.
It was the only appearance for the Hyundai Kona (301) in a top 10 list, with hybrid and electric models responsible for 58.8 per cent of these sales compared to 41.2 per cent for petrol variants.
ACT total new-car sales in 2024: 17,586
The Toyota HiLux continued its 24-year streak in the Northern Territory with 1658 deliveries – more than Tasmania and the ACT, despite having the smallest population – almost triple the sales of the Toyota RAV4 (595) and Ford Ranger (476).
In the NT, five of the top 10 vehicles had a Toyota badge, with the LandCruiser wagon and LandCruiser ute outselling the Corolla.
Surprisingly, the GWM Haval Jolion – one of Australia’s cheapest SUVs – beat the MG ZS and made the top 10 in the NT with 202 sales, while the 11th-place Suzuki Jimny (200) was three units off an appearance.
In comparison, the Jimny placed as low as 60th in Victoria, while the Haval Jolion slotted between 16th and 33rd in all other states and territories – except Tasmania, where it placed 71st.
NT total new-car sales in 2024: 10,441
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
