August was another tough month for car sales in Canada. Some may argue that it's a seasonal thing however YOY numbers, GM's Saab division notwithstanding, show considerable drops (in the 20 to 30% range) even for brands that have historically maintained strong numbers through the summer months.
The big winner for the highest gains percentage-wise is Audi. Having almost doubled its sales YOY with an 89.6% gain, Audi's latest cars will do nothing but maintain the momentum. Hyundai comes in next with a very healthy 38.4% increase in sales growth. This Korean manufacturer is clearly on fire and poised to trump Honda in annual sales. Up next is Lexus with a surprising gain of 31.3% Year-over-Year; proof that luxury SUVs and CUVs are still hot as the RX has set a best-ever monthly sales record.
The losers are predictable. Saab, may it R.I.P. in North America under the GM banner, has tumbled 79.8% sales-wise last month but this was to be expected as the brand has all but disappeared. Next up, or should I say down, is smart. Sporting a decline of 30.4%, the cuddly fortwo may not be cuddly enough... In third position, we find General Motors. With a 27.5% decline in sales last month, the General may be down but he is certainly not out. At least not at the moment...
Overall, the real winner is Ford. Its market share has grown 4.8% to 15.7% and its sales continue to improve, having increased by 7.0% last month. Only 852 units separate GM and Ford (the 1st and 2nd position) for total deliveries last month; I'm willing to bet that Ford will be back on top much sooner than later. As well, Hyundai's slice of the pie grew by more than 50% YOY climbing to 7.4% from 4.9%. Hyundai's modern and far-reaching line-up proves that this is a product-driven business.
Source: Desrosiers Automotive Report
The big winner for the highest gains percentage-wise is Audi. Having almost doubled its sales YOY with an 89.6% gain, Audi's latest cars will do nothing but maintain the momentum. Hyundai comes in next with a very healthy 38.4% increase in sales growth. This Korean manufacturer is clearly on fire and poised to trump Honda in annual sales. Up next is Lexus with a surprising gain of 31.3% Year-over-Year; proof that luxury SUVs and CUVs are still hot as the RX has set a best-ever monthly sales record.
The losers are predictable. Saab, may it R.I.P. in North America under the GM banner, has tumbled 79.8% sales-wise last month but this was to be expected as the brand has all but disappeared. Next up, or should I say down, is smart. Sporting a decline of 30.4%, the cuddly fortwo may not be cuddly enough... In third position, we find General Motors. With a 27.5% decline in sales last month, the General may be down but he is certainly not out. At least not at the moment...
Overall, the real winner is Ford. Its market share has grown 4.8% to 15.7% and its sales continue to improve, having increased by 7.0% last month. Only 852 units separate GM and Ford (the 1st and 2nd position) for total deliveries last month; I'm willing to bet that Ford will be back on top much sooner than later. As well, Hyundai's slice of the pie grew by more than 50% YOY climbing to 7.4% from 4.9%. Hyundai's modern and far-reaching line-up proves that this is a product-driven business.
| August | Current Month | YTD | ||||
| 2009 | 2008 | 09/08 | 2009 | 2008 | 09/08 | |
| Acura | 1644 | 1301 | 26.4% | 11408 | 13663 | -16.5% |
| Audi | 1058 | 558 | 89.6% | 7312 | 5771 | 26.7% |
| BMW | 2292 | 1902 | 20.5% | 16081 | 15876 | 1.3% |
| Chrysler | 14393 | 15450 | -6.8% | 107219 | 161278 | -33.5% |
| Ford | 22166 | 20725 | 7.0% | 156735 | 152145 | 3.0% |
| General Motors | 23018 | 31735 | -27.5% | 175769 | 254261 | -30.9% |
| Honda | 10574 | 13516 | -21.8% | 83637 | 111572 | -25.0% |
| Hyundai | 10418 | 7530 | 38.4% | 73360 | 58339 | 25.7% |
| Infiniti | 604 | 699 | -13.6% | 4647 | 5709 | -18.6% |
| Jaguar | 68 | 83 | -18.1% | 567 | 714 | -20.6% |
| Kia | 4672 | 3875 | 20.6% | 31891 | 26478 | 20.4% |
| Land Rover | 134 | 184 | -27.2% | 1164 | 1589 | -26.7% |
| Lexus | 1532 | 1167 | 31.3% | 10320 | 10288 | 0.3% |
| Mazda | 6880 | 7705 | -10.7% | 52162 | 62569 | -16.6% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 1992 | 1653 | 20.5% | 15939 | 13621 | 17.0% |
| MINI | 457 | 505 | -9.5% | 2888 | 3357 | -14.0% |
| Mitsubishi | 1860 | 1489 | 24.9% | 13816 | 13060 | 5.8% |
| Nissan | 7071 | 6784 | 4.2% | 50029 | 54054 | -7.4% |
| Porsche | 120 | 112 | 7.1% | 1206 | 1258 | -4.1% |
| Saab | 36 | 178 | -79.8% | 599 | 1164 | -48.5% |
| smart | 268 | 385 | -30.4% | 1732 | 2851 | -39.2% |
| Subaru | 1940 | 1861 | 4.2% | 13844 | 13595 | 1.8% |
| Suzuki | 1315 | 1298 | 1.3% | 8196 | 9184 | -10.8% |
| Toyota | 16707 | 22037 | -24.2% | 124593 | 156070 | -20.2% |
| Volkswagen | 3605 | 3793 | -5.0% | 26611 | 26264 | -1.3% |
| Volvo | 527 | 453 | 16.3% | 4545 | 4770 | -4.7% |
| Light Vehicle Sales | 135351 | 146978 | -7.9% | 996270 | 1179500 | -15.5% |
| Passenger Car | 68383 | 80932 | -15.5% | 516433 | 660591 | -21.8% |
| Light Truck | 66968 | 66046 | 1.4% | 479837 | 518909 | -7.5% |
| GM/Ford/Chrysler Nameplates | 59577 | 67910 | -12.3% | 439723 | 567684 | -22.5% |
| Import Nameplstes | 75774 | 79068 | -4.2% | 556547 | 611816 | -9.0% |
| Sales History | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 09/08 |
| January | 79.2 | 86.2 | 91.2 | 102.8 | 76.9 | -25.3% |
| February | 102.7 | 97.4 | 97.0 | 111.0 | 80.2 | -27.7% |
| March | 144.5 | 151.3 | 150.7 | 150.0 | 127.5 | -15.0% |
| April | 163.2 | 155.1 | 169.0 | 175.2 | 143.9 | -17.8% |
| May | 157.6 | 168.2 | 185.5 | 184.5 | 154.0 | -16.5% |
| June | 161.4 | 157.3 | 169.2 | 159.5 | 138.5 | -13.2% |
| July | 154.8 | 141.6 | 142.4 | 149.5 | 139.9 | -6.4% |
| August | 142.5 | 153.6 | 158.4 | 147.0 | 135.4 | -7.9% |
| September | 124.2 | 135.8 | 131.8 | 134.1 | ||
| October | 115.2 | 118.4 | 120.9 | 122.7 | ||
| November | 120.2 | 123.5 | 117.3 | 105.2 | ||
| December | 117.8 | 126.3 | 119.9 | 94.4 | ||
| Full Year | 1583.3 | 1614.7 | 1653.4 | 1636.0 | ||
| Note: Sales figures above are in thousands. | ||||||