The best-sellers of 2024… so far

There are just under three weeks left until 2025 is upon us which means we’re now at the pointy end of the new-car sales race.

Toyota is long gone with the manufacturers crown yet again, but the competition for the year’s best-selling model isn’t quite tied up yet, particularly for positions two and three, and four and five.

So with that in mind, here are the five best-selling vehicles of 2024 as of November 30.

The Ford Ranger is Australia’s reigning sales champion from 2023 and is in a prime position to retain its crown for another year with 58,100 examples having been handed over to customers (private and fleet) so far this year ending November.

More than 53,700 of those sales have been contributed by the 4x4 versions – just enough to ensure Ford’s locally-developed workhorse would maintain the lead over our second-place holder if the 4x2s didn’t exist.

But they do, and in doing so they’ve handed the Ranger a healthy 4501-unit advantage over the…

While Toyota has pretty much always been the overall sales champion and the RAV4 a top player in its segment, few could’ve predicted the now hybrid-only RAV would make a play for the crown of Australia’s best-selling vehicle.

While the RAV4 has consistently been the best-selling model of recent months, it hasn’t been by enough to have a fighting chance of taking the crown – Toyota has to sell 4502 more RAV4s than Ford does Rangers in December…

Still, the medium SUV’s sales surge and newfound monthly dominance can be chalked up to a combination of significantly improved supply, growing consumer demand for hybrids and the ongoing SUV craze.

Long the overall sales champ, the Toyota Hilux has slipped back through the field over the past couple of years as the current generation starts to show and feel its age against a growing number of younger rivals, chief among which is the Ranger.

Toyota has been facing some supply hiccups with what was previously Australia’s favourite vehicle year after year after year, but we can’t help hazarding a guess and suggesting private sales may have slowed in preparation for the new-generation Hilux due on sale in 2026.

If the Ranger is the Hilux’s nemesis and the RAV4 its troublesome sibling, then the Isuzu D-Max is the thorn in its side.

While it can’t dream of threatening third place in 2024, the current-gen D-Max has been a regular fixture in the top five best-selling models for several years now and continues to gain sales momentum, especially following its mid-life update earlier this year.

Rounding out this list is the Mitsubishi Outlander; a constant quiet achiever paving the way for Mitsubishi to claim fifth on the manufacturer’s table… if it can hold off Hyundai.

As of November 31, the Outlander was Mitsubishi’s best-selling model by quite some margin, getting the better of the Triton pick-up truck by a hefty 9200 units, however it will be interesting to see if that trend continues next year once more Triton variants (cab-chassis and single-cab) arrive.

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