Last year’s results reveal a shifting marketplace
By now it’s old news that mediocre December sales in Canada — up just 2.6 per cent from the same month in 2010 — held 2011’s new vehicle total to 1,585,519 units. That was marginally better than 2010, an increase of just 1.8 per cent, and well below the 1.6-million floor level that prevailed before 2009.
Still, it wasn’t a bad result. At least the direction was positive and total sales were almost exactly on par (+0.08 per cent) with the average for the past five years.
While the overall sales envelope remained relatively stable, however, there was plenty of shifting going on within its borders.
Top sellers maintain positions
Chrysler, which remained third in overall sales, was the big winner in terms of market share improvement. A 12.5 per cent sales increase translated into a 1.37 per cent year-over-year share gain, to 14.48 per cent of the market. Chrysler’s 2011 sales were also up 10.3 per cent from its five-year average and its share was 0.82 per cent ahead of its level five years ago, before all the chaos began.
For the second consecutive year, Ford was number one in sales, claiming 17.40 per cent of the market — an increase of 0.19 per cent from 2010, from a 3.0 per cent improvement in sales. Compared to 2006, Ford fared even better than Chrysler, with a 3.22 per cent increase in share — the greatest of all the automakers.
General Motors hung on to second place in 2011, with sales down 1.6 per cent from last year, losing another 0.53 per cent of market share — down to 15.31 per cent. Perhaps the most telling number of all, that figure represents a 10.42 per cent share decline from 2006, when GM still claimed over a quarter of the market.
Collectively, the Detroit Three improved their market shares by 1.2 per cent from 2010, to 47.2 per cent overall. That gain came solely at the expense of Japanese nameplates.
A tough year for the Japanese
Toyota held on to fourth place, in spite of a second year of sales decline (-5.6 per cent) and a further share loss of 0.74 per cent (to 9.39 per cent). Over the past five years, the brand has lost 1.99 per cent of overall share.
But Honda suffered an even greater sales decline (-12.8 per cent) and a 1.15 per cent loss in share (to 6.80 per cent). That’s a 2.2 per cent share decline since 2006 — enough to let Hyundai slip past into fifth place.
In fact, all the Japanese brands except Infiniti (+15.8 per cent), Mitsubishi (+5.2 per cent) and Nissan (+3.9 percent) saw sales drop in 2011. Suzuki took the biggest hit in percentage terms (-38.4 per cent), equating to 0.19 per cent share, and Mazda (-12.0 per cent) was also hard hit, giving up 0.69 per cent share and letting Nissan slip past into seventh place in sales. Subaru’s sales fell by 3.0 per cent, for a 0.08 per cent share decline.
Collectively, the Japanese gave up 3.03 per cent of overall share in 2011, down to 31.05 per cent overall. That’s a share loss of 2.87 per cent compared to 2006.
Big year for Korean pair
Korean gains made up for the biggest chunk of the Japanese loss. Hyundai led the way in sales, improving by 9.1 per cent from 2010, for a 0.54 share bump to 8.15 per cent. In the process, it passed Honda for fifth place overall.
Proportionately, however, Kia made an even bigger improvement with a 20.9 per cent sales increase and a 0.65-per cent jump in share, to 4.11 per cent.
Collectively, the Koreans gained 1.19 per cent of market share, accounting for 12.26 per cent of total sales. If Hyundai and Kia are considered as a single entity, they are now the biggest selling Asian automaker in Canada.
Europeans on a charge
With the singular exception of Smart (-8.3 per cent), all the European brands made sales gains in 2011, relative to 2010.
Volkswagen led the way in sheer numbers with a 15.9 per cent sales increase and a 0.40 per cent jump in share, to 3.32 per cent.
Land Rover topped the charts in percentage gain (26.7 per cent), a 0.04 per cent improvement in share. Audi’s sales soared by 17.7 per cent, increasing share 0.14 percent to 1.06 per cent overall and moving past Acura to claim 15th place in sales rankings.
BMW came on strong in the final months of the year to post a 9.5 per cent sales gain, improving share by 0.13 per cent to 1.88 per cent and surpassing Subaru for 12th place overall.
Mercedes-Benz, with a modest 4.8 per cent sales increase and 0.06 per cent share gain, to 1.96 per cent, maintained its lead over BMW for luxury brand supremacy (although the Mercedes figures include Sprinter commercial vans as well as cars and utility vehicles).
Collectively, the European brands improved their share by 0.82 per cent, claiming 9.49 per cent of the market.
