For the second month in a row, new-vehicle sales in Canada defied expectations of a downturn, as February set yet another monthly sales record, effectively shrugging off the slowdown at the end of 2017.
February sales of 125,530 vehicles were up 2.0% from the same record-setting month a year ago, driving the year-to-date total to 242,811 units, an increase of 3.8%. They were 12% ahead of the five-year average for the month, according to David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada.
“Consumer confidence remains high with the Conference Board of Canada reporting that February consumer confidence levels are at their highest levels since November 2000, and we know that higher levels of consumer confidence normally translate into better sales for big ticket items, such as new vehicles,” noted Adams.
While February’s SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate) was the second-lowest in the past six months, it was still above the 2.0-million record average for 2017 and well ahead of SAARs for the first six months of 2017, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
Still tight at the top
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) claimed monthly sales leadership again in February with 18,831 vehicles sold, although that figure was down 1.5% from a year ago. It’s year-to-date sales of 36,592 units are down 2.6%, giving up a full percentage point of market share, to 15.1%.
Ford’s February sales were just 330 units behind, at 18,501, a decline of 2.4% from a year ago. Year-to-date, Ford’s total of 34,962 is down 3.4% from last year and its market share has declined by 1.1% to 14.4%.
General Motors was again the only gainer among the Detroit Three, with 17,981 vehicles sold. That’s an increase of 8.8% on the month, pushing year-to-date sales up 11.7% to 34,772 – tantalizingly close to Ford – and gaining a full percent of market share to 14.3%.
To put those market share figures in perspective, Ford finished 2017 with an annualized market share of 15.1%, GM 14.9% and FCA 13.1%.
Collectively, the Detroit Three account for 43.8% of the market year-to-date, down 1.0% from this point a year ago.
Toyota back in fourth
After temporarily losing fourth place to Honda in January, Toyota is back in that usual spot with a 0.9 % increase in February, to 12,090 units sold. The traditional Japanese market leader took back that position year-to-date as well, with 23,258 sales, up 2.8%, although its market share slipped two-tenths to 9.6%.
Honda’s 10,667 sales (+2.5%) secured a solid fifth-place for the month, and YTD sales of 22,674, up 16.0%, are still within striking distance of Toyota. Honda’s 9.3% market share is up 0.9% from a year ago.
Nissan maintained its solid performance and sixth-place ranking, with sales of 8,982 vehicles, up 3.2%, holding onto the same 7.0% market share it had a year ago.
Hyundai hung onto seventh-place, despite another double-digit (11.0%) decline to 10,667 sales. Year-to-date, the Korean market leader’s sales are down by 11.2%, giving up 0.8% of market share to 4.8%.
Mazda maintained eighth place for the month on 4,611 sales, up 1.7% from a year ago, maintaining its 3.7% market share.
Another strong performance by Volkswagen, with sales of 4,108 sales up 32.3%, secured ninth position for the month and year-to-date, along with a 0.9% market share increase to 3.5%.
For the second month in a row, 10th-place overall belonged to the luxury-class leader. Mercedes-Benz, in spite of a modest 0.2% sales increase and a 0.2% share drop, to 3.0%
Once again Kia was relegated to 11th-place, with a sales decline of 4.3% to 3,827 and a drop of 0.3% in market share, to 2.9%.
Subaru remained in 12th-place with 3,254 sales, up 9.7%, and a two-tenths improvement in market share to 2.9%.
Winners and losers
On a percentage basis, the biggest winners in January were Volvo (+34.6 Volkswagen (+32.3%), Mitsubishi (+27.2%), Genesis (+25.0%) and Audi (+21.9).
On the downside, the biggest losers, in percentage terms, were Maserati (-52.8%), Lexus (-19.3%), Hyundai (-11.6%), Smart (-7.6%), Acura (-7.4%) and Kia (-4.3%).
The split between passenger cars and light trucks (including utility vehicles) continued to grow with passenger car sales dropping 6.0% and light truck sales rising 5.6%, leading to a year-to-date sales breakdown of 72.3% light trucks and 27.7% passenger cars.
