It’s interesting to note how the manufacturers of our two best-selling 4×4 utes – Ford and Toyota – each go about the job of maintaining sales differently.

Ford has been the best-seller for a few years now and has maintained that lead with a barrage of limited editions, model updates and now the introduction of the new Super Duty. The Blue Oval won’t be able to lift its foot off the pedal in 2026, with the loss of the bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine from Ranger sure to hurt, and the P703 starting to show its age in line with newer competition. A major mid-life refresh of Ranger can’t be too far away, and possibly arriving this year.

The heavily revised new HiLux is one of those newer competitors, despite retaining much of its engineering and powertrain. HiLux’s new interior is a huge step up for the enduring model, bringing it up to modern standards, while the new exterior treatment is very much a love-it-or-hate-it affair.

The ‘new’ HiLux delivers what we would normally expect of a mid-life model refresh rather than an all-new model but, for me, that is the best thing about it. Toyota hasn’t messed with the essentials of what is a solid and winning formula. The chassis and powertrain remain best in class for a midsize, one-tonne 4×4 ute, and the 1GD-FTV 2.8-litre engine should have the wood over Ford’s single-turbocharged 405Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder. It’s easy to see why Ford Australia has expanded the availability of the 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine.

Despite all the new and updated utes coming to the market in 2026, I can’t see the top sellers changing at all; it will only be a matter of which of the two stays ahead. It still promises to be an interesting race and can only bring better products to the market for buyers.

Close behind the Ranger and HiLux in the recent 4×4 Ute of the Year test was the Kia Tasman, and it recently dawned on me that the new competitor has a feature neither Ford nor Toyota offer, and it’s one I value highly. The fuel filler in the Tasman easily accepts a high-flow diesel pump nozzle, with none of the restrictions most other new diesel-fuelled vehicles have for no apparent reason.

That’s time saved at the pump for more important things. 

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