Vehicle sales in Canada have a chance to break the two-million barrier in what has been a record-setting year.
DesRosiers Automotive Consultants reported that auto sales surged 6.9 per cent in August, continuing the year’s hot streak. The company believes it’s possible Canada could see sales close to 2.05 million units.
Through the first eight months of the year, more than 1.4 million vehicles have been sold. That’s a bump of 5.3 per cent compared to 2016. April is the only month this calendar year that did not set a new sales high.
In August alone, just under 184,000 vehicles were sold, with the light truck segment continuing to show strong sales as it more than doubled car sales – 124,849 light trucks compared to 59,096 cars, according to DesRosiers.
General Motors led the way in sales for August with almost 29,000 vehicles sold, up 28.5 per cent from last year. It’s the first time the Detroit automaker has been on top since before its bankruptcy in 2009.
Ford is still tops for the year despite a 6-per-cent drop in sales. It more than 27,000 vehicle sales in August brought its 2017 total to 215,224. GM trails by about 10,000.
Fiat Chrysler also took a hit with a 9.2 per cent drop in sales. It sold 19,000 vehicles in August. Toyota sold just under 18,000 vehicles, up 7.7 per cent. Volkswagen saw its sales boost 72 per cent as it sold 9,000 vehicles.
Fiat Chrysler sold 19,648 vehicles in August, down 9.2 per cent, while Toyota was up 7.7 per cent to 17,950. Volkswagen sales were up 71.9 per cent to 9,032.
Ford currently holds top spot for the year despite a 5.9 per cent drop in sales in August to 27,286 and 215,224 for the year.
Hurricane dampens U.S. sales
It was a bit of a mixed bag for U.S. auto sales. Hurricane Harvey was blamed for a dip in demand in the Houston area – the ninth largest vehicle market in the U.S. – which cut sales by about 20,000, according to forecasting firm LMC Automotive.
August was looking strong for auto sales as the U.S. looked to rebound from a seven-month streak of sales declines until the hurricane hit.
Similar to Canada, GM (7.5 per cent), Toyota (7 per cent) and Volkswagen (9 per cent) saw sales increases. On the flip side, Hyundai (25 per cent), Nissan (13 per cent) and Fiat Chrysler (11 per cent) all dropped.
However, the storm could boost late-year sales as vehicle owners look to replace autos damaged by the storm. According to The Associated Press, Jonathan Smoke, the chief economist for Cox Automotive, the parent company of Kelley Blue Book, estimated that 300,000 to 500,000 vehicles will need replacing due to Harvey.
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