After a minor softening in April, new vehicle sales in Canada bounced back strongly in May, exceeding those in the same month last year by 17.9 per cent — the greatest year-over-year monthly increase since February 2010.
That big number can be explained in part by the fact that May 2011 was relatively weak, in terms of sales — the lowest for the month in more than seven years. So it was a low base for comparison.
But two other measures confirm the strength of this May’s market: May 2012 sales were 6.2 per cent above the five-year average for the month; and, they represented a SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate) of 1.65 million (per DesRosiers Automotive Consultants).
That’s not quite as strong a SAAR as the first three months of the year, but strong nonetheless. Five months into 2012, year-to-date sales are better than they have been at this point in the year since 2008.
Year-to-date, sales are up 8.2 per cent over last year and 6.2 per cent from their five-year average – and well ahead of most forecasts for this year.
Ford back on top
After being outsold by Chrysler for three of the first four months, this year, Ford reclaimed the top spot with sales up 27.1 per cent over May 2011. That improvement put Ford back in front for the year-to-date as well, with total sales up 4.4 per cent for the period.
Chrysler (+7.4% for the month) remained firmly in charge of second place, with General Motors (+1.3%) well back in third, both monthly and year-to-date.
In terms of market share, year-to-date, Chrysler has gained almost a tenth of a per cent (0.07%), while both Ford (-0.58%) and GM (-1.52%) lost some ground.
Fourth-place Toyota (+66.8% for the month and 18.2 % year-to-date) is rapidly regaining its pre-recall place in the market, aided significantly by very strong sales of its new-for-2012 Camry. Through May, Toyota held a 10.53-per cent market share, up 0.89 per cent from the same time last year.
Honda (+37.5%) had another strong month, but still remained behind fourth-place Hyundai (+0.2%), both for the month and year-to-date. again, ceding fifth place in sales to the Korean company, both for the month and year-to-date. Honda has, regained 0.73 per cent of share from this time last year, however – second best only to Toyota. Hyundai has dropped 0.28% in market share.
Infiniti (+76.8%) %) was the greatest year-over-year gainer in May. But, in addition to the previously mentioned Toyota (+66.8%) and Honda (+37.5%), Acura (+52.6%), Land Rover (+43.7%), Lexus (+41.5%) and Nissan (+33.9%) also had a very strong month.
In a reversal of recent form, Mercedes-Benz (-6.2%) was one of the few to show a sales decline for the month, along with Suzuki (-4.5%) and Volvo (-2.5%). Mercedes-Benz continued to lead BMW in the luxury-brand sales race, however.
Import brands gain share
Collectively, import brand sales (+23.2%) improved more strongly in May than did those of the Detroit Three (+12.3%). Import-brand sales claimed 55.8 per cent of the market, to the D3’s 44.2 per cent.
Year-to-date, the imports claim 53.4 per cent of the market to the D3’s 44.6 per cent – a 1.77-per cent swing either way from this time last year.
As has been the case for several months, passenger car sales (+21.0%) improved more strongly than did truck sales (+15.2%) in May, further eroding trucks’ market-share advantage. Year-to-date, trucks account for 53.8-per cent of the market to cars’ 46.2 percent – a 1.7-per cent swing either way from a year ago.
