With the start of a new year, it can be hard to predict how sales of new cars will fare over the next 12 months. According to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, last month’s total of 95,639 units represents just a 0.3 per cent increase over January 2013 and yet, last year proved to be the best on record in terms of overall demand, despite higher January numbers posted in 2008 (102,800 units) and 2012 (97,500 units).
For most manufacturers and dealers January is traditionally a slow month, as many consumers tighten their belts following the festive season and winter weather tends to keep many potential buyers out of showrooms. Nevertheless, there were some encouraging signs. Sales of Import brands were up 8.5 per cent with Toyota, Honda and Nissan leading the way in terms of volume (9,525, 6,820 and 5,624 units sold respectively for the month). Although the three largest Import brands all saw increases of around 10 per cent compared with January last year, the biggest gains came from luxury brands Jaguar and Infiniti, which, although showing modest overall volume (72 and 736 units respectively), saw 56.5 and 41.3 per cent gains over their January 2013 totals. Strong investment in both brands, along with new products and enhancements to the retail network have no doubt helped contribute to the solid increase in demand.
On the Domestic front, Chrysler (as has been the case over the last few years) put in the strongest showing for January, delivering 17,589 units for the month, besting Ford’s total of 14,526 units and General Motors’ 10,991 total sales. Additionally, Chrysler was the only one out of the Domestic three to show any gains over the same period last year (3.9 per cent) and the only one to gain market share (18.4 per cent, up from 17.8 per cent in January 2013).
In terms of passenger cars to trucks, the latter saw significant gains in January — demand was up 4.7 per cent with 58, 932 units sold. That represents 61.6 per cent of the new vehicle market, the highest penetration on record for light trucks in Canada. Passenger car sales meanwhile skidded 5.9 per cent, resulting in 36,707 units sold last month. Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen, yet despite a brief hiccup during the 2008-09 recession, when high fuel prices briefly sent many consumers scurrying away from trucks and into passenger cars, demand for light utilities has continued to increase, indicating that Canadians’ love affair with trucks and SUVs is arguably stronger than ever.
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