July may have been the hottest month in Canada ever in terms of weather but new-vehicle sales cooled down, falling below last year’s levels for the second time in the past three months.
July sales of 173,303 new cars, trucks and utilities were down 2.6 per cent from the same period last year, although they remain 7.8 per cent ahead of the five-year historical average for the month, according to David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada.
That decline pulled year-to-date sales back to 4.6 per cent over last year, although that’s a margin of more than 50,000 vehicles, which still bodes well for another annual record.
As Dennis DesRosiers of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) points out, the market would have to underperform by an average of 10,000 units a month for the rest of the year in order not to exceed 2015’s record sales.
The seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) for the month remained above 1.9-million units as well, according to DAC, so the small decline is no reason for panic. It’s worth noting that much of 2015’s sales strength came in the second half of the year, so year-over-year monthly increases will be harder to come by for the rest of 2016.
Still, there is some concern that the long-predicted leveling-off in demand may have begun. The fact that U.S. sales also declined in July reinforces that concern.
Or, it just may be that it was too hot for many customers to go car shopping. August and September results will better define any trend.
As has been the recent norm, passenger car sales drove the decline, down 11.3 per cent from last July, while sales of trucks and utility vehicle were up 2.7 per cent in June. Year-to-date, trucks and utilities now claim 65.1 per cent of the market, while passenger cars account for just 34.9 per cent.
Ford takes a solid lead
Ford took control of the race for the top sales spot in July, with sales of 29,771 vehicles up by 9.5 per cent from last year. Year-to-date, Ford’s sales are up 11.4 per cent, moving the Blue Oval past Fiat Chrysler Auto for the first time this year, with an advantage of more than 2500 units — and a market share increase of a full 1.0 per cent .
FCA was second for the month, with sales down 13.8 per cent from a year ago, dragging year-to-date back to just a 0.2 per cent increase.
It should be noted that FCA recently adopted a new sales reporting methodology that has affected previous sales figures in the U.S. and may do so in Canada.
The data presented here shows FCA’s July 2016 sales calculated by this new methodology against historic sales calculated by the old methodology. There may be subsequent adjustments in comparative figures when more details are released.
General Motors’ sales fell by 6.9 per cent in July, leaving year-to-date sales up just 0.9 per cent. Toyota (-0.6 per cent) and Honda (-3.1 per cent) both experienced slight declines in fourth- and fifth-place respectively. Hyundai (+1.4 per cent), Nissan (+8.9 per cent), Kia (+14.5 per cent), Mazda (-15.6 per cent) and Volkswagen (-14.2 per cent) completed the top 10 in that order.
As was the case in June, the biggest gainer in percentage terms was Jaguar, up 213.8 per cent as availability of the new F-Pace SUV and XE sedan increased.
Other brands with big increases in July included Volvo (+33.5 per cent) Land Rover (+16.5 per cent), Audi (+14.7 per cent), Kia (+14.5 per cent) Mercedes-Benz (+12.4 per cent) and Mini (+11.3 per cent).
[NOTE: Data quoted in this report were sourced from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, Global Automakers of Canada and individual automakers.]
