As with Toronto real estate, so with cars in Canada: sales records continue to fall in 2016 after a record-breaking 2015. New car and truck sales in Canada were up 9.6 per cent in January compared to one year ago, and fell just short of a record set in 2002. In all, 108,553 vehicles found new owners in January. The increases reported in January were due almost entirely to higher sales of pickup trucks, minivans, crossovers and SUVs. Sales of passenger cars were down slightly, though Honda’s ever-popular Civic and Accord continued to sell well.
Virtually all of the major auto makers in Canada reported higher year-over-year sales in January: GM, up 24.3 per cent; Ford, up 14 per cent; Toyota, up 4.5 per cent; Honda, up 36.8 per cent; Mercedes-Benz, up 17.2 per cent; Mazda, up 5.6 per cent; Subaru, up 2.1 per cent; Fiat Chrysler, up 0.6 per cent. For many, it was the best January ever, or in many years.
The one glaring exception was Volkswagen, whose sales plunged 17.6 per cent in the aftermath of the diesel emissions-rigging scandal that broke last fall.
The most popular vehicles included Toyota’s Tacoma 4×4, Tundra, Highlander and Sienna, all trucks. Mercedes-Benz sold 51.8 per cent more of its luxury light trucks than in the same month last year. Fiat Chrysler sold more than18,000 vehicles, mainly Jeep and Ram trucks, keeping the company in first place for vehicles sold in the month. Honda’s Civic, Accord and Pilot remain popular, all posting double-digit gains over one year ago. The Civic has been the most popular car in Canada for eighteen years. Honda’s Canadian-built CR-V also broke a January sales record, with a 9 per cent increase in sales. For Subaru, the big volume sellers were its 2016 Forester compact SUV, Crosstrek compact crossover, and WRX. The latter had an impressive 53.3 per cent increase.
