Canadian auto sales have broken so many records recently that we’ve become almost inured to the news. But April’s sales results trump anything that’s come before. For the first time ever, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, light vehicle sales topped 200,000 in April, setting an all-time record for any month.
Total sales were 200,327 units — up 6.0 per cent from April 2015 — driving year to date sales to 603,233, which is also an all-time record for the period. Cumulatively, they’re up 8.2 per cent from last year.
“A slightly better economic outlook, and a stronger Canadian dollar complemented by aggressive sales incentives served to produce stellar sales results once again in April,” said David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada.
Compounding the good news, the seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR), which had been on the decline for the past three months in spite of record sales levels, took a big jump in April. It topped two million units in April for the first time since last October.
However, there are some caveats.
Dennis DesRosiers points out that last year’s first quarter sales were “somewhat soft” so the percentage increases this year may not be as dramatic as they seem. Plus, fleet sales are hot now and many fleet sales represent low margin vehicles.
In addition, cross-border sales are said to be growing rapidly, all of which could help artificially inflate overall Canadian sales numbers. He suggests that actual retail sales to consumers in Canada actually may be down slightly.
DesRosiers doesn’t believe this pace will hold for the rest of the year but based on the strength of the first four months he predicts that we are heading for another record sales year.
Ford edges FCA for top spot
As it did in March, Ford topped the sales charts in April, but barely. Its 30,311 sales (+11.0 per cent from April 2015) were just 203 units more than FCA’s (+9.6 per cent). Year-to-date, Ford’s sales are up 17.2 per cent from 2015, compared to FCA’s 4.1 per cent gain. But given FCA’s strong January/February, it still leads the year-to-date tally by 1,170 units.
Back in third place, General Motors sales fell 8.7 per cent in April, although they’re still up 7.5 per cent year-to-date. Collectively, the Detroit Three have gained 0.6 per cent of market share so far this year, with Ford ahead by 1.2 per cent, FCA down 0.6 per cent, and GM even with 2015.
With sales gains of 15.9 per cent in April, fourth-place Toyota was the biggest gainer of the mainstream brands, bumping its year-to-date improvement to 12.6 per cent, an improvement second only to Ford among the volume brands.
In fifth place, Honda sales increased by 8.7 per cent, followed in ranking order by Hyundai, (0.6 per cent), Nissan (+7.8 per cent), Kia (+7.6 per cent), Mazda (+2.2 per cent) and Volkswagen (+6.6 per cent), which turned around its recent declines.
Trucks, trucks, trucks
No surprise, it was truck and utility vehicle sales that once again drove the April sales increase. They were up 16.3 per cent for the month, while passenger car sales declined 8.4 per cent. Year-to-date, trucks and utilities now command 65.1 per cent of the market — a 5.1 per cent increase from this period last year.
[NOTE: Data quoted in this report were sourced from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, Global Automakers of Canada and individual automakers.]
