Canadian new vehicle sales in August followed the same pattern they have exhibited for the past five months – they set another all-time sales record for the month.
Total sales of 175,512 vehicles in August were up just 2.2 per cent from the same month last year, but that modest increase was enough to keep the year-to-date figures 2.3 per cent and almost 29,000 units ahead of the same period in 2014. And to keep figures on track for 2015 to set another annual sales record, for the third consecutive year.
For the second month in a row the seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) exceeded 1.9 million, as reported by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. That makes July and August the two best months of the year in terms of SAAR.
“With (the recent) announcement that Canada was in a technical recession for the first two quarters of 2015, it is a bit surprising that vehicle sales continue to advance at record levels unabated,” said David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada (GAC). “Although August marked the second straight month of falling consumer confidence, car shoppers don’t seem to be phased,” he added.
FCA extends its lead
FCA (formerly Chrysler) was again the best-selling manufacturer in August, with 26,928 vehicles sold – a scant 0.4 per cent increase over last year and just 349 units more than Ford, whose sales fell by 5.0 per cent.
Year-to-date, FCA remains in first place with sales up by 1.1 per cent, giving it a lead of almost 16,000 units over Ford, whose sales dropped 6.1 per cent.
In third place, for both the month and the year, General Motors continued to make gains, surpassing the market average with sales up 11.5 per cent in August and 6.1 per cent year-to-date.
Toyota (-3.5 per cent) maintained its perennial fourth-place position for the month, although a resurgent Honda (+10.1 per cent) closed within 900 units. Year-to-date, however, Toyota (+1.4 per cent) maintained a commanding lead over Honda (+1.3 per cent).
Sixth through 10th places in August went to Hyundai (+0.2 per cent), Nissan (+9.4 per cent), Volkswagen (5.6 per cent), Mazda (-6.0 per cent) and Kia (-12.4 per cent), and year-to-date figures maintained that order.
Trucks and luxury vehicles set the pace
“Light truck numbers continue to make storylines,” said industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers. Truck sales (which include CUVs/SUVs) improved by 10.0 per cent relative to last August. Passenger car sales declined by 8.9 per cent. Those changes pushed truck market share to 60.9 per cent, year-to-date, leaving passenger cars just 39.1 per cent of the market.
Most luxury brands continued to post strong growth in August with Volvo leading the way (+56.3 per cent), followed by Mercedes-Benz (+29.5 per cent), Land Rover (+29.3 per cent), Lexus (+25.9 per cent), Acura (+22.9 per cent) and Porsche (+22.8 per cent). Jaguar (-10.2 per cent) and BMW(-3.6 per cent) were the only luxury brands to lag the market.
Year-to-date, Mercedes-Benz continues to lead the luxury ranks with a significant advantage over BMW, Audi, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Land Rover, Porsche, Volvo and Jaguar, in that order.
[NOTE: Data quoted in this report were sourced from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, Global Automakers of Canada and individual automakers.]
