Toyota HiLux outsells Ford Ranger in October as 2026 sales gap narrows to 129

Toyota's HiLux outsold the Ford Ranger in October 2026, recording 5954 sales against the Ranger's 4841 across two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions. The result cuts the year-to-date gap to 129 sales, with 42,570 HiLuxes sold against 42,699 Rangers to the end of October, the closest margin between the two utes so far this year.

A lead that has been shrinking since June

The Ranger's advantage has been steadily eroded. It led by 1242 sales at the end of September and held its largest lead of the year at the end of June, when it was 3707 sales ahead. Both nameplates are still selling in smaller numbers than a year ago, with the Ranger down 8.1 per cent year-to-date and the HiLux down 5.9 per cent.

The pair remain the two best-selling models outright in Australia so far this year, ahead of the Tesla Model Y electric SUV on 39,035 sales. The next-best ute, the Isuzu D-Max, sits well back on 19,836 sales to the end of October. That gap matters: the HiLux and Ranger contest is a two-horse race at the top of the market, and the D-Max is not close enough to be drawn into it.

Both brands are discounting to win the run home

Toyota is offering a $4000 finance deposit bonus on eligible diesel-powered HiLux SR5 dual-cab pickup and cab/chassis models purchased through Toyota Finance. Ford is countering with a $5000 fuel card, which buyers can take as a discount on the purchase price instead, on MY26.5 Ranger XLT models, the grade that lines up against the HiLux SR5. Selected MY27 Ranger models carry a $4000 fuel card offer.

The incentives suggest both brands see the remaining two months as winnable. Ford's MY27 update, announced in August, expanded availability of the 2.0-litre single-turbo engine and reworked the model lineup, including the return of the Wildtrak X grade. Toyota launched the new-generation HiLux in December 2025.

New metal has not settled the contest

The new-generation HiLux gained a battery-electric powertrain, making it the first electric ute in Australia to earn a five-star ANCAP safety rating. Toyota says improved supply will continue through to the end of this year.

There is recent precedent for a late swing. The HiLux was 379 sales ahead at the end of November 2023 before the Ranger finished that year 2245 sales in front, ending Toyota's seven-year run as Australia's best-selling vehicle. With two months of 2026 left and 129 sales separating them, the margin is tight enough that a single strong month could flip the order. Neither Toyota nor Ford has publicly declared a target for the full-year title, so which one finishes 2026 on top has not been announced.

The wider market picture

Ford sits third among all makes, having been overtaken by BYD for second place earlier this year, while Toyota remains the top-selling brand to the end of October. For buyers, the practical effect of the title fight is on the forecourt: the finance bonus and fuel card offers are live now, and the outcome of the sales race is likely to be decided by which brand keeps discounting hardest through December.

Rob Dahm has fitted 13 rotors to a first-generation Mazda MX-5, and the car drives. The build is on display at Haltech's booth in the Central Hall for the full run of the 2026 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, which takes place November 3 to 6.

Dahm, known for squeezing ever more outlandish engines into early MX-5 chassis, was asked by Haltech, the engine management company sponsoring the build, to bring something to its SEMA stand. He decided one rotor, or even twelve, was not enough.

Only one of the two rotary engines drives the car

The headline number is misleading on purpose. The huge 12-rotor engine mounted where a normal motor would sit does not power the car at all. Propulsion comes from a separate single-rotor engine fitted with a Garrett GBC22 turbocharger, while the 12-rotor sits on top purely for show.

Dahm's team left the wiring, fuel lines and accessories in place on the 12-rotor so it looks fully functional, but it is not connected to the drivetrain. The aim was to make onlookers wonder how any of it works rather than spot an obviously missing part. The 12-rotor engine carries a claimed output of 4,500 horsepower.

That matters because the 13-rotor count describes the whole exhibit, not the drivetrain. Anyone quoting 4,500 hp as the Miata's power is quoting the display engine, not the single-rotor unit turning the wheels.

Custom mounts and three turbochargers in a tiny bay

Fitting both engines into a Miata engine bay meant building mounts from scratch, triangulated into the chassis to resist side-to-side wobble and a teeter-totter motion caused by the weight distribution.

Turbochargers, intake manifolds and fuel rails had to be refitted in a set order, partly because some parts helped brace others against the chassis. Three turbochargers went onto the combined setup, adding roughly 70 pounds each on top of an already overloaded front end.

The team reused components from earlier Dahm projects, including labelled wiring harnesses from past builds, because rebuilding everything from zero in the time available was not realistic.

Getting it running, and getting it loaded

Before the car could run, it had to roll, and the team treated that milestone as a test in itself. Loading it into a trailer brought its own crisis, with the team weighing ground clearance against a steep ramp while the rear end slid sideways under the shifted weight. Careful measurements and a willingness to risk scraping the undercarriage got it aboard.

Dahm's team confirmed the engine fires up and the car moves under its own power, even though the 12-rotor on top never needs to.

The build follows a run of engine swaps at this year's SEMA, including two Porsche 911s fitted with V8s. For Dahm, the 13-rotor Miata is less a lap-time proposition than a booth attraction built to stop traffic, and on that measure the two-engine layout does its job.