Although the Toyota Hilux is known to consistently outsell its closest rival, the Ford Ranger, by a fairly considerable margin, the race is actually a lot closer if we narrow it down to the double cab body style.
According to our studious friends over at Lightstone Auto, the Toyota Hilux remained the most popular double cab bakkie choice in South Africa during the first four months of 2021, recording 6 039 sales between January and April. However, the Ford Ranger double cab (which is also our 2021 Best Buys winner) came a close second, with 5 939 sales.
This represents a monthly average of 1509,7 units for the Toyota Hilux and 1 484,7 for the Ford Ranger.
The Isuzu D-Max double cab followed in a distant third place with 2 613 sales between January and April, equating to a monthly average of 653 units, while the Mahindra Scorpio recorded 1 138 year-to-date sales, or 284,5 per month.
The Toyota Hilux also won the double cab sales race in 2020, with 15 539 units registered throughout the year, while the Ford Ranger followed fairly closely with 14 494 sales.
The single cabs
Toyota enjoys a considerable lead in the single cab sales race, with 4 597 year-to-date sales (or 1 149,2 per month) while the Ranger could only muster 867 since cab sales (216,7 p.m.). Interestingly, the Isuzu KB and the Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up also outsold the Ranger in the single cab realm, with respective sales of 2 293 and 1 137 between January and April.
When it comes to extended cab bakkies, Toyota is still in the lead with 2 157 year-to-date Hilux Xtra Cab sales, versus 689 for the Ford Ranger SuperCab and 365 for Isuzu’s D-Max Extended Cab models.
But will the Ford Ranger ever nudge ahead of its Toyota Hilux rival in the South African double cab sales race? Only time will tell, but it will be interesting to see how the balance shifts after Ford SA introduces its next-generation Ranger in 2022.
