
By Gerry Malloy
For the second month in a row, new-vehicle sales in Canada declined in April relative to last year, this time more sharply. Sales of of 191,856 vehicles were down 2.7% from a year ago and 4.2% from 2016’s record April sales.
It was still the third-best-selling April on record according to Dennis Desrosiers of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC), however, and sales were 2.3% ahead of the five-year average for the month, according to David Adams of Global Automakers of Canada (GAC). “The weather in April has been decidedly cool across most of the country — perhaps delaying the traditional spring market a bit,” said Adams.
Year-to-date, 2018 is still on a record pace with sales of 621,114 vehicles 0.4% ahead of last year’s best-ever pace. However, April’s SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate) was just 1.95-million according to DAC — the second-lowest level in 15 months and only the second time since last April that it has dropped below 2.0-million.
Although light truck sales, including those of crossovers and utility vehicles, grew 2.2%, that growth was more than offset by the passenger car market which decreased by 12.4%.
Year-to-date, light truck sales are 5.1% ahead of last year, slightly outweighing the passenger car market losses (-9.6%). It remains to be seen whether this lead will hold out in the following months, observed DesRosiers.
Ford back on top for the month
Ford regained the sales lead for the month with 30,038 vehicles sold (-1.1%), compared to 29,537 sales for General Motors (-4.6%). Year-to-date, however, GM maintains the number-one ranking with 94,468 sales (+2.5%), compared to Ford’s 91,050 (-2.2%).
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was well back in third place for the month, with 23,057 sales (-15.8%) and FCA slipped back to third in year-to-date sales as well, with a total of 84,139 units sold (-8.8%).
As a group, the Detroit Three’s sales declined by 6.8% in the month and 2.5% through the first four months, giving up 1.3% of market share, to 43.4%. Individually, GM gained 0.3% of market share (to 15.2%), while Ford gave up 0.3% (to 14.7%) and FCA declined by 1.3% (to 13.5%).
Mixed results further down
Toyota, in fourth-place, continued to gain ground in April with sales up 0.9% in a down-market, keeping year-to-date numbers ahead by 3.8% and maintaining a market share gain of 0.3%, to 9.9%.
For the second consecutive month, Honda’s numbers were down, this time by 7.1% to 15,424 vehicles. Year-to-date sales remain ahead by 0.9%, however, keeping market share at 8.7%, the same as a year ago.
Hyundai regained sixth-place for the month, despite a decline of 14.4%, to 12,468 sales. Year-to-date, however, the Korean brand remains in seventh place, with sales down by 12.7% and a share loss of 0.9% to 5.4% — second in magnitude only to FCA.
Nissan fell to seventh place in April, even though sales of 11,457 units were up 10.9% from a year ago. Year-to-date, however, Nissan is solidly in sixth place with sales of 42,443 vehicles well ahead of Hyundai and up 3.1% from last year, bumping market share by 0.1% to 6.8%.
Kia held on to eighth-place for April, albeit barely, with a 1.3% increase that raised year to date sales by 1.0% and maintained market share at 3.4%, same as a year ago. In terms of rankings, however, Kia is ninth year-to-date.
Mazda was ninth on the month, just a few units behind Kia, with a solid 7.4% gain that boosted its figures to +3.4% through the first quarter and put it in eighth place for the year-to-date, with market share up 0.2% to 3.8%.
Volkswagen again ranked tenth for the month, with a modest 4.4% advance that left its year-to-date gain at +24.5%, but also relegated it to tenth place in the rankings, year-to-date. Nevertheless, the German brand’s 0.6% share increase, to 3.2%, is the greatest in the industry.
Subaru, with a 3.4% sales increase, consolidated its 11th place ranking for the year-do-date as well as the month. Year-to-date sales are up 6.7%, enabling a 0.1% increase in market share, to 2.7%.
Mercedes-Benz’s sales were back on track in April with an 8.3% increase from year ago, raising sales for the year so far by 0.1% and maintaining market share at 2.7%, the same as a year ago. The best-selling luxury car ranked 12th in the overall rankings.
Further down the luxury charts, Audi and BMW are locked in a close battle for the runner-up spot, with Audi edging ahead for the month but the Bavarian brand holding a slight edge year-to-date.
Winners and losers
On a percentage basis, the biggest winners in March were Genesis (+291.4%), Smart (+50.0%), Volvo (+41.8%), Land Rover (+32.4%), and Acura (+23.2%).
The biggest losers, in percentage terms, were Maserati (-28.9%), Infiniti (-27.4%), FCA (-15.8%), Hyundai (-14.4%), and Lexus (-9.2%).
Most luxury car brands showed increased sales, with Infiniti and Lexus being the primary exceptions.
The split between passenger cars and light trucks (including utility vehicles) closed up a bit in the month, with passenger car sales down by 12.4% and light truck sales up by just 2.2%. Year-to-to-date, light trucks account for 71.1% of the market and passenger cars 28.9%, a slight improvement for passenger cars from the previous month.



