Last month witnessed another solid performance for new car and light truck sales in Canada. Although overall demand for cars and light trucks slowed a little in July compared with June, overall, with 158,993 units sold, July’s total still represents the best ever, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.
Demand for light trucks continues to prove strong, with sales of 88,174 units for July, a 3.9 per cent gain over the same period last year. Bigger news, however, is the resurgence in passenger car sales, which saw an 11.8 per cent year-over-year gain from 2012. Also, after domestic manufacturers saw significant growth during the first half of the year, it seems that Japanese OEMs are gaining momentum. Honda, Nissan and Toyota all reported significant gains for the month, with Honda delivering 13,454 units — a massive 40.1 per cent gain over July 2012. Nissan sales were up 60.4 per cent over 2012, while Toyota saw growth of 10.7 per cent.
Luxury brands continue to perform well, with Jaguar witnessing triple digit growth (125.5 per cent up on July 2012), and both Lexus and Porsche also posting double digit gains. On the domestic front, only Chrysler was the big winner in July, selling 26,066 vehicles to land it in the number one spot. Due to selling 25,149 units last month, Ford finished runner up and both it and third place General Motors (19,164 units sold), actually saw declines compared with a year earlier — 10.1 and 0.2 per cent respectively.
Korean manufacturers, Hyundai and Kia, despite delivering steady volume have seen their soaring growth tempered this year — Hyundai reported a year-over-year increase of 5.9 per cent in July, while Kia witnessed a 0.9 per cent decline from a year earlier — not helped by hot new competition, both from Japanese and domestic rivals.
More details on Canadian light vehicle sales in July can be found at www.desrosiers.ca.
