Source: LakeStream/Shutterstock.com
Source: LakeStream/Shutterstock.com

Utes are the most popular vehicles in New Zealand. In the table below, we list the top-selling utes in New Zealand based on registration numbers from the NZTA.

Last year, while sales of passenger cars were up 12% year on year, after a couple of years of poor sales, fewer new utes hit the roads. Overall, sales of the country's most popular five utes were down 10%.

This year, while the top four most popular utes remain the Ranger, Hilux, Triton and Navara, it's interesting to see newcomer the BYD Shark 6 make the top five.

Top-selling utes in NZ

Rank

Top Selling Utes
2025

Top Selling Utes
2026

1

Ford Ranger (9650)

Ford Ranger (4895)

2

Toyota Hilux (6568)

Toyota Hilux (3554)

3

Mitsubishi Triton (3279)

Mitsubishi Triton (1932)

4

Nissan Navara (2446)

Nissan Navara (1320)

5

BYD Shark 6 (1882)

BYD Shark 6 (811)

Source: NZTA – 2026 sales to 30/06/26

Ute sales by engine type

It's no surprise that most utes in NZ run on diesel, but thanks to the popularity of the Toyota Hilux, non plug-in diesel hybrids accounted for 16% of sales last year.

Add to that total petrol hybrids and EVs, and, overall, last year, non-ICE utes accounted for a quarter of all sales, a trend that's continuing this year:

Sales by Engine Type 2025

Sales by Engine Type 2026

72.3% Diesel

70% Diesel

15.9% Non plug-in diesel hybrid

17% Non plug-in diesel hybrid

8.2% Plug-in petrol hybrid

9% Plug-in petrol hybrid

3.3% Petrol

3% Petrol

0.2% EV

1% EV

0.1% Non plug-in petrol hybrid

0% Non plug-in petrol hybrid

Source: NZTA – 2026 sales to 30/06/26

Top-selling passenger cars in NZ

To give the above figures some context, here are the best-selling passenger cars for the same periods, which highlight the ongoing strength of ute sales:

Rank

Top Selling Cars 2025

Top Selling Cars 2026

1

Toyota RAV4 (11,295)

Toyota RAV4 (3219)

2

Mitsubishi ASX (4970)

Tesla Model Y (1908)

3

Mitsubishi Outlander (4309)

Mitsubishi ASX (1807)

4

Ford Everest (3323)

Mitsubishi Outlander (1554)

5

Kia Seltos (3189)

Ford Everest | Toyota Corolla Cross (1494)

6

Toyota Yaris Cross (2018)

Kia Sportage (1328)

7

MG ZS (1971)

GWM Haval H6 (1275)

8

Toyota Corolla (1953)

Hyundai Tucson (1266)

9

Hyundai Tucson (1841)

MG ZS (1216)

10

Suzuki Swift (1825)

Kia Seltos (1055)

11

GWM Haval H6 (1815)

Toyota Yaris Cross (874)

12

Toyota Landcruiser Prado (1668)

Suzuki Swift (858)

13

Mazda CX-5 (1609)

Kia Stonic (839)

14

Toyota Corolla Cross (1476)

Toyota Corolla (779)

15

Kia Sportage (1360)

Mazda CX-5 (662)

Source: NZTA – 2026 sales to 30/06/26

Bruce Pitchers is Canstar's NZ Editor. 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 DrivenStuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines 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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