‘Stable’ October car sales in Canada: DesRosiers

DesRosiers Automotive Consultants reports stable light vehicle sales in Canada last month.

There were approximately 160,216 units sold, down 0.6% from October 2018 when 161,125 units were sold.

Although passenger car sales fell 14.8%, a 5.0% increase in light truck sales helped offset the majority of this loss. Year-to-date sales fell an estimated 3.8% with a 15.6% drop in passenger car sales against a 1.1% increase in light truck sales. Relative to this, October brought with it a welcome shift in the market. This disparity between passenger car and light truck sales shifted their sales ratio to 74.1% light trucks against 25.9% passenger cars. In the same time in 2018 this breakdown settled at 70.5% light trucks against 29.5% passenger cars. Overall, October 2019 presented the fourth highest October sales results on record. A few highlights:

Standout performers in terms of percent change for October 2019 were Maserati, Mitsubishi, Audi, and Kia all of whom recorded double digit sales increases (36.4%, 18.8%, 11.2%, and 11.1% respectively)

Significant sales volume was added by FCA (est.) and Honda, both of whom contributed over one thousand new unit sales to the market total

Although year-to-date sales have remained down, Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia added significant sales volume throughout 2019 (6,648, 3,807, and 2,976 units respectively)

A few higher volume brands have had the opposite effect such as Nissan (down 12.8% in October and 8.5% year-to-date) and General Motors (down an estimated 7.5% in October and 11.7% year-to-date)

www.desrosiers.ca