In 2014, the Ford Ranger outsold the Toyota Hilux, ending the Japanese car brand’s 32-year run as the top-selling ute in New Zealand. And Ford has now gone on to show this wasn’t just a fluke by retaining its position at the top of the ute pile in 2015 and also outselling the Corolla.
Mitsubishi and Clemenger BBDO have had a fairly good run on the advertising front, with the retro campaign for the Mirage and the humorous take on hybrid technology to launch the MPEH Outlander standing out. Now it’s released an ad promoting the just released Triton ute that talks up its reliability with the tagline ‘You can bet on it’.
Last year, Toyota used its sponsorship deal with One Weather in a creative way by getting the pie-loving protagonist from its Hilux advertising to reprise his role, introduce the daily report and somehow tie it in to the vehicle. Now, following Ford’s Ranger sales victory in the ute category last year, the first time in 32 years the Hilux hasn’t been atop the podium, it’s created its own hirsute weatherman to rub it in.
2014 was a good one for the New Zealand automotive industry, with Motor Industry Association figures showing over 126,000 new vehicles registered. This beat the 30-year record of 123,247 units sold in 1984 and it was ahead of the 113,294 sold in 2013. And it was a particularly good year for Ford, which took New Zealand’s top selling ute title off the Toyota Hilux after a 32 year run.