Top Secret! Ford Ranger Raptor sales revealed for the first time: Exclusive
It's one of Ford's most successful models, but sales figures for the Ranger Raptor have remained a closely held secret – until now.
EXCLUSIVE
The Ford Ranger ute was crowned Australia's best-selling vehicle in 2023, ending seven years of domination by its main rival, the Toyota HiLux.
But the exact sales split across the Ranger line-up is not something Ford is willing to disclose, and Drive understands it has to do with the range-topping Raptor.
Despite being the most expensive Ranger on sale, priced at $90,440 before on-road costs, the Raptor has proved a runaway sales success for the Blue Oval in recent years.
While the previous-generation Ranger Raptor didn't have the performance to match its muscular appearance – covering the 0-100km/h sprint time in 10.5 seconds – the latest model now has a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 engine producing 292kW and 583Nm.
This has slashed the Ranger Raptor's sprint time by almost half – allowing the ute to hit 100km/h from a standstill in six seconds, as tested by Drive.
All of which has helped the Raptor account for more than 15 per cent of the Ranger's total sales in 2023, or almost 10,000 vehicles sold, Drive can exclusively reveal.
Why exactly this figure is a secret, Ford won't say – however, Drive believes it may have something to do with the US car giant wanting to keep the high-performance dual-cab four-wheel-drive ute segment to itself, and not highlighting the Raptor's success.
Figures obtained by Drive show the Ranger Raptor alone outsold Chery, Chevrolet, Fiat, Genesis, Jeep, Land Rover, Mini, Peugeot, Ram, Renault, Skoda, and SsangYong in the 2023 calendar year.
In fact, if the Ranger Raptor was its own breakaway car brand, it would have sold almost as many vehicles in 2023 as Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Polestar, and Porsche – combined.
It's feared the popularity of the Ranger Raptor could force rivals to fast-track their own high-performance utes.
In May 2024, Tomoya Takahashi, the president of Toyota's performance division, Gazoo Racing, dismissed the possibility of a more powerful GR HiLux to compete with the Ranger Raptor.
"[Would we make a] GR special car? No. Only GR Sports," he replied after being asked about whether the company was developing a powerful, off-road model to sit above the HiLux GR Sport.
However, while Toyota's Gazoo Racing doesn't appear to be working on a Raptor rival, Toyota Australia does have a history of developing its own performance models – such as the turbocharged Corolla Sportivo, the supercharged TRD Aurion, and the supercharged TRD HiLux.
TRD badging was dropped in Australia to make way for Gazoo Racing models such as the GR Supra, GR Yaris, and GR Corolla, but TRD – Toyota Racing Development – is still used on several sporty off-road models sold in North America.
The TRD Tacoma pick-up in the US (which sits between the HiLux and Tundra in size) is offered with a 2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol-hybrid engine producing 243kW and 631Nm.
With the new-generation HiLux expected in 2026 – which could share its platform with the new US-market Tacoma, as well as the latest Prado and LandCruiser 300 Series – it may only be a matter of time before Toyota sets its sights on the Ranger Raptor.
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