Canadian auto sales remained relatively stable in October, down just 0.6% from the same month in 2018. But that slight decline made it 18 of the past 19 months that sales have slipped behind their year-before numbers.
October’s estimated sales of 160,216 new vehicles brought Canada’s year-to-date total to 1,661,560 units sold, a decline of 3.8% from the same period last year, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
“Light vehicle sales (year-to-date) are over 1.6 million vehicles — which used to represent a very good total calendar year sales volume, so things are slowing down, but it is not drastic,” commented David Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada.
Overall, October 2019 presented the fourth highest October sales results on record, according to DAC, and the SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate) for the month was close to 1.95-million, which bodes well for another full year in the 1.9-million-plus range.
Passenger car sales were down by 15.6% in October, against a 1.1% increase in light truck and utility vehicle sales. Year-to-date, the sales split is 74.1% light trucks to 25.9% passenger cars, a 3.6% increase in the truck share from a year ago.
GM on top for month
General Motors regained the top sales ranking for October, based on estimated sales of 21,611 new vehicles, an increase of 7.5% from the same month last year. Year-to-date, however, GM’s 225,220 sales were down 11.7% from 2018, keeping it in second place and reducing its market share by 1.2% to 13.6%.
Ford’s 21,178 October sales, down 1.1% from a year ago, were slightly behind GM’s, relegating the Blue Oval to second place for the month. It’s still number-one for the year-to-date, however, with 252,871 units sold — a healthy 27,000-plus margin. That total is down 3.0% from this time last year but still ahead of the average market decline, thus increasing Ford’s market share by 0.1% to 15.2%.
In third place, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles made the greatest sales gain of the Detroit Three in October, up 8.1% to 18,862 units sold. That increase left year-to-date sales down just 3.0% from last year, at 194,356 vehicles, like Ford slightly better than the market average. As a result, FCA’s market share improved by 0.1% to 11.7%.
While combined Detroit Three sales were ahead of the market for October, they were down by 6.1% through the first 10 months, accounting for 40.5%% of all sales — a decline of 1.0% from a year ago.
Toyota remained secure in fourth place in October with 18,247 sales, down 2.7% from a year ago. Although still ahead of the market average, it was the second consecutive month of numerical decline for the dominant Japanese brand. Year-to-date sales of 183,243 units remain 3.8% ahead of last year at this time, keeping Toyota’s 11.0% market share ahead of last year by 0.8% — the greatest share increase in the industry.
Following a month of decline, Honda’s sales bounced back to 15,415 units in October, an improvement of 7.8% that kept the brand securely in fifth place. Year-to-date, Honda’s 149,974 sales were down just 2.6% from last year, beating the market average and improving market share by 0.1%, to 9.0%.
Hyundai and Kia continue to gain
Hyundai continued to extend its sixth-place lead over Nissan with 11,669 October sales, a gain of 2.6% from 2018. Year-to-date, the leading Korean brand’s sales increased by 3.4% to 114,218 vehicles, boosting market share by 0.5% to 6.9%, the second-best improvement in the industry behind Toyota.
Now well behind Hyundai in seventh-place, Nissan sold 9,854 units in October, down 12.8% from the same month a year ago. Nissan’s year-to-date total of 107,630 sales fell to 8.5% behind those of a year ago and market-share dropped by 0.3% to 6.5%.
Volkswagen leap-frogged Kia to claim eighth place for the month, in spite of a 1.7% sales decline to 6,985 units. Year-to-date, VW remained in ninth place with 59,147 sales, down 3.8 % from a year ago, which kept market share steady at 3.6%.
Kia’s sales increased by 11.1% in October, to 6,250 units, but that wasn’t enough to surpass VW, relegating the Korean brand to ninth place for the month. It retained eighth for the year-to-date, however with its 66,383 sales ahead of last year by 4.7%and market share up 0.3% to 4.0% — the third-best share gain in the industry.
Now entrenched in 10th place, Mazda sold 6,035 new vehicles in September, a gain of 0.7% from last year. But the 57,452 cumulative sales for the year-to-date remain down by 11.3% from 2018, cutting market share by 0.3% to 3.5%.
Subaru, in 11th place, sold 5,641 vehicles in October, up 2.6% from the same month last year. Year-to-date sales of 47,289 new vehicles were down just 2.8% from year-ago numbers, beating the market average and improving share by 0.1% to 2.9%.
Mercedes-Benz’s 4,282 sales were up by 6.4% in October, maintaining 12th place overall and securing premium-brand leadership for the month and year-to-date, ahead of BMW and Audi in that order.
Winners and losers
The automakers were about equally split between gainers and losers in October.
On a percentage basis, the biggest gainers were Maserati (+36.4%), Mitsubishi (+18.8%), Audi (+11.2%), Kia (+11.1%), and FCA (+8.1%).
The biggest losers, in percentage terms, were Smart (-70.7%), Mini (-18.2%), Acura (-16.8%), Infiniti (-16.7%), and Nissan (-12.8%).
It should be noted that the total market sales figures reported here are now estimated by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC), given that Fiat Chrysler Automobile and General Motors now report actual sales only on a quarterly basis. These estimated monthly results are reconciled quarterly by DAC to reflect actual sales when those companies report officially.
