Perhaps, given the time of year, February’s sales figures were a little down on January’s. Nevertheless, overall, the market showed a strong performance, with this year proving to be the fourth best February on record in terms of total deliveries. Key things to note are that market share among many imported brands was slightly down compared with a year ago, especially among Japanese and Korean nameplates, though luxury brands, notably BMW, Infiniti and Jaguar showed gains in market share.
On the Domestic side, Chrysler led the way (and also in total Canadian sales volume for the month), posting 17,764 deliveries in February. Ford, finished second, posting 16,292 sales, while General Motors came in third with 13,987 units. In terms of growth in market share among all brands, Ford was the biggest winner, posting a 5.4 per cent gain, though all three Detroit automakers saw gains, thanks to sales numbers that outperformed the market overall.
On the Japanese side, only Mazda and Infiniti saw sales increases during February, volume sellers, Toyota, Honda and Nissan witnessing declines. The Koreans, which have witnessed exponential growth over the last few years, also posted lower numbers, perhaps hinting that reduced demand is likely par for the course in the months ahead.
Among European brands, BMW showed slight gains, while Jaguar saw big improvements, delivering almost double the number of cars this February compared with the same month last year. Volkswagen was also another solid performer, witnessing a sales gain of 10.5 per cent during February, in line with its strategy to chase higher volume and compete with more mainstream brands such as Toyota and Honda.
Another interesting observation was demand for light trucks. Compared with 2012, trucks (including SUVs) accounted for 58 per cent of the overall passenger vehicle market in February (up from 57.2 in February 2012). If anything it illustrates that Canadians still like their trucks and are still buying them in significant numbers.
