While September new vehicle sales in Canada were down for the third consecutive month compared to last year, the decline of a mere 0.5 per cent is far from bad news.
Last September’s sales were the highest on record for the month, which leaves this September’s tally of 173,460 new cars, trucks and utilities the second-best ever.
Just as important, the seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) for September soared to 2.08 million, the highest level since last October, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
These stats make another annual sales record a probability for 2016. With three-quarters of the year down, year-to-date sales of 1,507,975 units are 3.2 per cent and more than 47,000 vehicles ahead of this time last year. Barring some major disaster, 2015’s record of just under 1.9 million sales is likely to fall.
Light truck sales, which include utility vehicles, were up 3.5 per cent for the month, while passenger cars declined 7.6 per cent. Trucks took 65.3 per cent of the market for September and year-to-date, leaving just 34.7 per cent for cars.
Ford extends sales lead
Ford once again topped the charts with 30,051 sales in September, a 6.9 per cent gain over last year. F-Series sales led that growth with a 21 per cent increase, making it the best month on record for Canada’s perennial best-selling vehicle. For year-to-date, Ford’s sales are up 10.5 per cent and gained a full percentage of market share, leading the industry at 15.8 per cent.
General Motors ranked second for September with sales up 2.0 per cent. However GM remains in third place for year-to-date sales, down 0.1 per cent from last year and about 19,000 units behind last year’s sales leader, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. FCA’s sales were down 18.2 per cent from last September and they’re down 4.1 per cent year-to-date, slipping more than 20,000 units behind Ford in the race for first place.
In fourth place, Toyota’s sales fell 0.7 percent in September, while fifth-place Honda’s increased 2.7 per cent, setting a record for the month. The remaining top 10 were Hyundai (-3.2 per cent), Nissan (-2.1 per cent), Kia (+10.2 per cent), Mazda (-9.4 per cent) and Volkswagen (-2.0 per cent), in that order.
For the second month in a row, Smart was the biggest gainer in percentage terms, with a 925.6 per cent increase. Jaguar (+148.9 per cent) followed, still reaping the rewards of its new F-Pace SUV and XE sedan, and Volvo (+34.4 per cent) continued to benefit from its renewed lineup.
Audi (+26.7 per cent) led a luxury-car surge that encompassed all the premium brands except Acura (-11.3 per cent). Kia (+10.2 per cent) and Subaru (+8.9 per cent) were the biggest gainers among the higher-volume brands.
[NOTE: Data quoted in this report were sourced from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, Global Automakers of Canada and individual automakers.]
