According to data compiled by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, new car and light truck sales in Canada continued to roar along last month coming in at 133,860 units. That represents a 6.5 per cent gain over last year’s November total (125,730) and also beats the previous record set back in 2001 (130,099). In terms of individual manufacturers, the big gains came from Import brands, notably Jaguar and Land Rover, who saw 142.9 and 26.7 per cent gains in sales volume over last November (even though overall sales represent 0.1 and 0.3 per cent of the total Canadian market). Other big winners were BMW, which after a fairly non eventful year saw demand jump by 22.3 per cent for the month, beating out key rivals Mercedes-Benz (which saw 16.1 per cent growth) and Audi (0.6 per cent).
Japanese manufacturers also performed well with Subaru witnessing a 22 per cent gain in sales over November 2012 thanks to 3,327 units sold (versus 2,727 the year prior). Other big winners were Nissan, which saw a 19.9 per cent bump in volume over last November (selling 6,491 units versus 5,414 in 2012), while Mitsubishi and Honda also performed well, witnessing a 16.1 and 12.7 per cent surge in demand respectively.
Although Ford continued to hold onto the number one spot in terms of overall vehicle sales (19,660 units), it only saw modest gains in terms of volume for the month (1.2 per cent compared with last year). By contrast, Chrysler Canada, which delivered 19,071 vehicles for the month saw a whopping 13.0 per cent increase, helping cement 2013 as one of the automaker’s best years in recent memory. General Motors, finishing third overall with 17,482 units, saw a sales increase of 0.6 per cent for the month.
In terms of cars versus light trucks, the latter continue to find favour with Canadian buyers — demand was up 8.8 per cent last month, while passenger car volume swelled by 3.5 per cent. In terms of the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR), November’s sales figures pushed the total to 1.8 million units, ranking it as the second highest for the year.
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