The ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have made analysis of new-vehicle sales in Canada during the first quarter of 2021 something of a toss-up. They can be interpreted as up or down, depending on the comparator — the chaotic early days of the pandemic a year ago, when nothing was normal, or the more stable baseline of Q1 2019.
Compared to 2020, when virtually the whole country was shut down for the latter half of March, this year’s sales of 378,730 units were up by 15.1% — thanks largely to an 86.2% improvement for the month of March itself, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC). But relative to Q1 2019, 2021’s sales were down by 8.0% — and they were 11.8% below their historic highpoint in 2018.
Looked at either way, it is a fair comment that sales are as strong as might reasonably be expected, given the double-whammy of ongoing and retightening pandemic restrictions plus widespread supply-chain limitations due to critical electronic chip shortages.
That positive perspective is supported by a March SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate) of 1.91-million, as estimated by DAC — the highest rate of the year so far, as well as the highest since last October.
Light truck sales surge further ahead
The consistently strong sales results of light trucks (pickups, vans and utility vehicles, including crossovers) relative to those of passenger cars, took a further leap in Q1. Sales of 316,443 “light trucks” were up by 21.4% from 2020, while just 62,287 passenger cars were sold, a decline of 8.9% in an overall market that was up by 15.1%.
“Light trucks” claimed a record 83.6% of the market for the quarter, while passenger cars accounted for just 16.4% — a further 4.4% market shift from a year ago in favour of trucks.
GM claims #1 status for Q1
General Motors followed up its strong Q4 2020 performance by claiming a significant early sales lead for 2021, with 62,552 vehicles sold in Q1 — a gain of 29.8% from 2020 (and 13.2% from 2019 — the greatest improvement of any mainstream automaker). As a result, GM’s market share improved by 1.9% from 2020, to 16.5% — the largest gain in the industry.
Ford gave up its traditional number-one ranking, dropping to second with 54,198 sales — a gain of just 0.9% from a year ago (and a 13.0% decline from Q1 2019). That relative decline cost Ford 2.0% of market share — the greatest share loss in the industry — dropping it to 14.3%.
Stellantis (formerly FCA) held on to third place with sales of 46,077 units, up 4.4% from Q1 2020 but down 15.2% from the same period in 2019. The net effect was to cut Stellantis’ market share by 1.2% from last year, to 12.2%.
Toyota wasn’t far behind in fourth place with 41,828 sales, up 19.6% from 2020 but down 2.6% from 2019. The leading Japanese brand’s market share improved by 0.4% from a year ago, to 11.0%.
Honda hung onto fifth place with Q1 sales of 26,653 vehicles — a gain of just 0.4% from 2020 and a significant 31.0% decline from 2019. Consequently, it gave up 1.1% of market share, falling to 7.0%.
Hyundai, Kia and Mazda maintain strength
Hyundai stayed sixth in the rankings but gained ground on Honda, selling 24,826 vehicles in Q1, up 20.3% from 2020 and 2.3% from 2019. In doing so, it improved market share by 0.3% to 6.6%.
Nissan wasn’t far behind in seventh with 23,582 sales — a gain of 29.4% from 2020, although down 17.7% from 2019. That gain improved market share by 0.7% from a year ago, to 6.2%.
Kia, ranking eighth, made gains relative to both prior years, with sales of 15,760 units up 25.1% from 2020 and 6.1% from 2019. Its resultant market share increase was 0.4%, to 4.2%.
Mazda was just a tick behind Kia in Q1, with 15,042 sales — a gain of 33.9% from 2020 and 8.9% from 2019, improving market share by 0.6% from a year ago, to 4.0%.
Volkswagen maintained tenth place in the rankings with 11,715 vehicles sold, up 5.9% from Q1 2020 but down 15.8% from 2019. As a result, VW’s market share declined by 0.3% from a year ago, to 3.1%.
Subaru held station in 11th with 11,260 Q1 sales, a gain of 17.4% from a year ago and 2.4% from 2019, nudging market share ahead by 0.1% from 2010, to 3.1%.
Mercedes-Benz retained its luxury-brand sales leadership and 12th-place overall ranking with 9,132 sales, representing a 14.7% gain from Q1 2020 but a 10.8% decline from 2019 — holding market share steady at 2.4%.
Audi, BMW and Lexus followed in that order.
Winners and losers
In terms of percent change from Q1 2020, the big “winners” for Q1 2021 were: Genesis (171.9%); Maserati (123.3%); Porsche (83.9%); Volvo (0.4%); and Acura (54.7%).
The greatest “losers” were: Jaguar (-34.3%); Mitsubishi (-6.9%); Honda (0.4%); Ford (0.9%); and FCA/Stellantis (-4.4%).
It should be noted that the sales figures reported here are reconciled quarterly by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) based on sales reported by manufacturers.
