May’s modest downturn in new-vehicle sales now appears to be just a hiccup in the long-running trend of monthly year-over-year sales increases in Canada.
Sales rebounded strongly in June with 191,088 new cars, trucks and utilities sold — a 7.4 per cent increase from June 2015 and the most ever for the month.
At the midpoint of the year, cumulative sales of 989,177 vehicles are also the best ever — up 6.0 per cent from this point in last year’s record run.
From a historical perspective, sales were 10.8 per cent ahead of the June average for the past five years, according to David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada.
Reinforcing that sales strength, the seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) bounced back to about 1.9 million units, after falling to 1.85 million in May, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.
Passenger car sales showed a bit of renewed vitality in June as well, in that their 2.9 per cent year-over-year sales decline was less than has become the recent norm. But the strength in the market remains with truck and utility vehicle sales, which were up 13.9 per cent in June.
Year-to-date, trucks and utilities claim 65.0 per cent of the market, compared to 35 per cent for passenger cars.
FORD REGAINS TOP SPOT FOR JUNE
The battle for the top sales spot continued unabated in June.
Ford topped the charts for the month with 28,699 vehicles sold — an increase of 7.2 per cent from a year ago. Fiat Chrysler Auto was a close second, however, with 27,776 sales, up just 2.1 per cent from last year.
As it has done since January, FCA maintained the year-to-date sales lead with 152,439 units sold (+2.9 per cent), compared to 149,842 (+11.7 per cent) for Ford at the halfway point. In terms of market share, Ford has gained seven-tenths, climbing to 15.1 per cent, while FCA lost five-tenths, down to 15.4 per cent.
In third place, General Motors’ 26,045 June sales were up 7.5 per cent from 2015, keeping pace with the market. They’re up 2.3 per cent year-to-date as well, but GM has lost four-tenths of a percent in market share from this time last year, down to 13.2 per cent.
Toyota (+7.9 per cent) and Honda (+4.0 per cent) maintained their fourth and fifth place positions, but Honda barely so. With a huge sales surge, Hyundai (+41.3 per cent) came within 72 units of catching Honda in June — although they’re still well apart year-to-date.
Behind Hyundai, positions seven through 10 went to Nissan (+13.3 per cent), Kia (+14.0 per cent), Mazda (-2.2 per cent) and Volkswagen (-21.2 per cent) in that order — with Subaru (+10.7 per cent) fewer than 300 units behind the German brand.
Year-to-date, Volkswagen sales are down 14.2 per cent — more than any other brand — and it has given up eight-tenths of a percent in share, falling to 3.2 per cent. The only other automakers to show sales declines at mid-year are Acura (-12.3 per cent) and Mazda (-2.2 per cent).
Jaguar was the biggest gainer in June — up 175.5 per cent, thanks primarily to the arrival of its new F-Pace SUV. Hyundai (+41.3 per cent), Volvo (+17.9 per cent), Land Rover (+15. per cent) and Audi (+15.1 per cent) also made solid gains for the month.
[NOTE: Data quoted in this report were sourced from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, Global Automakers of Canada and individual automakers.]
