Canada’s new light vehicle segment performance saw light trucks continue to pull ahead of passenger cars in Q3, according to a report from Desrosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. (DAC).
Passenger car sales declined 16.7 per cent during this period, with 129,165 units sold in the quarter. In contrast, light truck sales jumped 4.8 per cent, with 392,072 units sold.
“Year-to-date, light truck sales remained comparable to 2018, up just 0.7 per cent. This increasing disparity was reflected in individual segment sales,” said Desrosiers Automotive Consultants in its report. “The largest segment sales growth in terms of percentage was claimed by the subcompact SUV segment, up 20.2 per cent for the third quarter of 2019.”
YTD, the segment has experienced a 24.6 per cent sales increase. The large luxury SUV segment climbed 19.5 per cent, and 14.2 per cent YTD, while luxury sport was up 19.2 per cent for the quarter, though it’s also down 5.7 per cent YTD.
On the other end, the sport passenger car segment declined a significant 23.1 per cent, luxury compact dropped 22.5 per cent, and the luxury was down 17.7 per cent.
In terms of sales volume, the compact segment experienced a sales decrease of 17.2 per cent, which is nearly sixteen thousand units. The large pickup and subcompact SUV segments both added about six thousand units each to Q3 sales volume.
