New-vehicle sales in Canada maintained their record pace in October with best-ever results for the month. Total sales of 163,053 cars, trucks and SUVs were up 5.7 per cent from last October, which itself set a record for the month. And they were 19 per cent better than the five-year average for the month.
This was the 31st consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases, and the eighth record month this year, with no letup in sight. Concerns that very strong sales in the final months of 2014 might be difficult to beat have so far proven unfounded.
“Expectations exceeded” would be an appropriate summary for the market in October, said Dennis DesRosiers of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
Year-to-date sales of 1,624,185 vehicles are 2.7 per cent, and more than 40,000 vehicles greater than at the same point last year. That means another record year is all but certain, barring some catastrophic intervention. November-December sales would have to decline by more than 15 per cent to miss out on a fourth consecutive annual record.
Just as encouraging as the actual sales numbers, the seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) for October topped 2.1 million according to DAC – the highest ever.
“Nice fall weather and a healthy bump in consumer confidence levels for the first time in four months could be contributors to the ongoing industry success,” said David Adams, President of the Global Automakers of Canada. “Ongoing year-end promotions in a highly competitive market are also key factors regarding the sustained sales strength,” he added.
GM TOPS OCTOBER SALES CHART
For the second time this year, General Motors topped the sales charts for the month, with 23,268 vehicles sold, a 5.8 per cent increase from the same month last year. FCA (+0.4 per cent) and Ford (+0.2 per cent) weren’t far behind in almost a dead heat for second place, with FCA claiming the spot by just 304 units.
All three of the Detroit automakers have claimed monthly sales victories during the year, demonstrating greater parity in the market than there has been for some time. Year-to-date, FCA (+1.0 per cent) remains securely in first place, followed by Ford (-4.4 per cent) and GM (+5.5 per cent).
Of the three, GM has made the greatest progress during the year, gaining 0.3 per cent of market share, while FCA has lost 0.3 per cent and Ford 1.1 per cent.
Further down the October rankings were Toyota (+4.2 per cent) in fourth place, a resurgent Honda (+14.7 per cent) in fifth, Hyundai (+4.4 per cent) sixth, and Nissan (+24.4 per cent) seventh. Mazda (+2.2 per cent), Kia (+0.1 per cent) and Volkswagen (+8.3 per cent) completed the top 10 in that order – the latter bouncing back from its September decline in the wake of emissions cheating revelations.
Year-to-date rankings follow the same order except for Kia behind Mazda and VW in 10th place – although the three are tightly bunched.
TRUCKS CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE MARKET
As has become the norm, trucks (including CUVs and SUVs) drove October’s market gains with sales up 15.7 per cent, while passenger car sales fell by 9.6 per cent. Trucks claimed more than two-thirds (64.0 per cent) of the market for the month. And they’re approaching that share with 61.5 per cent year-to-date, and passenger cars relegated to just 38.5 per cent.
Also following recent trends, luxury brands continued to make strong gains, led by Land Rover (+71.9 per cent), Porsche (+45.4 per cent), Lexus (+29.4 per cent) and Infiniti (+22.8 per cent). Among mainstream brands, Nissan (+24.4 per cent) was the biggest gainer, maintaining its claim to be the fastest-growing mainstream brand, followed by Honda (+14.7 per cent) and Subaru (+11.7 per cent), which set its record for the month.
The big losers for the month were Smart (-68.2 per cent), Acura (-19.5 per cent) and Mitsubishi (-17.0 per cent).
[NOTE: Data quoted in this report were sourced from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, Global Automakers of Canada and individual automakers.]
