It has been more than a year now since new-vehicle sales in Canada began their steady decline and April’s results continue that trend, down 3.5% from a year ago to 185,158 units.
It should be noted that the total market sales figures reported are now estimated, by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC), given General Motors’ recent decision to report actual sales only on a quarterly basis. These estimated monthly results will be reconciled quarterly to reflect actual sales when GM reports officially.
While April’s percentage decline is in line with that of the previous two months, its impact is in fact greater for the downward slide had already begun a year ago, making last April an already depleted comparable.
In fact, this April’s sales represent only the fifth-best on record for the month and the lowest since 2014. And, they are below the average sales for the month over the past five years, according to David Adams, president of Global Automakers of Canada (GAC).
“A very wet April may have dampened consumers’ interest in purchasing new vehicles,” said Adams, who also noted that “consumer confidence was down 6 points after three straight months of increases, according to the Conference Board of Canada.”
Taken all together, it wasn’t an encouraging month for the industry.
That was particularly the case for passenger car sales, which were off by 15.6%, while those of light trucks, including vans and utility vehicles, managed a modest 1.8% gain. Year-to-date, light trucks accounted for 74.1% of total market share, an increase of 3.0% from a year ago, with passenger cars claimed just 24.9%.
Ford remains number-one
Ford again claimed the number-one sales spot for both the month and the year-to-date, with 28,745 vehicles sold, a decline of 4.3%. Cumulative sales of 91,064 units through the first four months were on par with last year, resulting in a 0.6% share increase to 15.3% in a market that was down overall.
Estimated sales of 28,228 units by General Motors were down by 4.4% but only slightly behind Ford. Year-to-date, GM’s 83,488 estimated sales were down by 11.6%, cutting market share by 1.2% to 14.0%, though clearly maintaining second place in the rankings.
Well behind, and barely holding third-place for the month was Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, with 20,802 sales — a 9.8% decline from last April. For the year-to-date, FCA sold 75,138 units, a decline of 10.7% from a year ago, resulting in a 0.9% loss of share to 12.6%.
Close behind in fourth-place, Toyota was one of April’s few gainers, with sales of 20,579 units up by 5.6% from a year ago. Correspondingly, cumulative sales of 63,513 units increased by 2.9%, bumping market share by 0.7% to 10.6%.
After coming close to Toyota in March, fifth-place Honda’s sales declined by 5.4% in April to 14,591 vehicles. As a result, cumulative sales of 53,193 vehicles fell 1.6% behind their 2018 level but market share improved by 0.2% to 8.9%, given the overall market decline.
Hyundai moves up
On a roll in recent months, Hyundai claimed sixth-place for April with 13,160 sales, an increase of 5.6% from last year. The Korean brand remained seventh, behind Nissan, for the year-to-date, but its 37,423 cumulative sales were up by 10.8%, pushing market share up 0.9% to 6.3% — the greatest share gain in the industry.
Nissan was relegated to seventh on the month with 10,642 sales, down 7.1% from April 2018. Year-to-date sales of 39,297 units were enough to maintain sixth-place for that period but they were down by 7.4% from last year, pushing market share down 0.2% to 6.6%.
Kia has now taken solid control of eighth place, for both the month and the year-to-date, with 7,438 April sales up 1.9% from a year ago. Cumulative sales of 22,298 units through April were up 5.3%, bumping market share by 0.3% to 3.7%.
Volkswagen regained ninth-place for April with an 11.1% sales increase to 6,365 units. As a result, VW hung on to ninth for the year-to-date as well, with 20,271 cumulative sales up 10.0% from a year ago, increasing market share 0.2 % to 3.4%.
That gain bumped Mazda back to 10th for the month with 6,311 sales, down 13.3%. The Japanese brand remained 10th for the year-to-date as week, with sales of 20,130 vehicles down 13.7% and market share off 0.4% to 3.4%.
Subaru maintained 11th place in April in spite of an 8.6% sales decline to 5,220 units, although market share held steady at 2.7%.
BMW displaced Mercedes-Benz for 12th place on the month, though the latter remained well ahead of the luxury-brand pack for the year-so-far.
Winners and losers
On a percentage basis, the biggest winners in February were Infiniti (+23.3%), Jaguar (+13.8%), Volvo (+13.3%) Volkswagen (+11.1%) and Lexus (+10.3%).
The biggest losers, in percentage terms, were Smart (-42.4%), Maserati (-22.1%), Mercedes-Benz (-19.6%), Audi (-17.7%) and Mazda (-13.3%).
