Whether or it's gas prices, the tidal bore or gamma rays, something is affecting new vehicle sales in Canada.
Change is visible in the results for the first three-quarters of 2005, but it's startlingly clear for September.
Light truck sales were down 10.8 percent in September, while car sales rose 5.3 percent. By comparison, for the first nine months of 2005 car sales are up 3.6 percent, while light truck sales rose 4.3 percent.
The analyst who calculates these numbers every month, Dennis DesRosiers, puts the change down to "high gas prices."
Along with the change in the overall car/truck market, DesRosiers points to the fact that the "four most fuel efficient segments -- sub-compact and compact passenger cars, small pickups and compact SUVs -- were also all up substantially" while the least fuel efficient segments were down quite a bit."
Specifically, DesRosiers reports that the Large SUV segment was down 47.6 percent, the Luxury SUV segment down 17.8 percent, and the Intermediate SUV segment down 27.0 percent.
"Consumers in Canada had partially resisted buying highly fuel efficient vehicles over the last few years," DesRosiers notes, but "this certainly was not the case in September."
Consider year-to-date rather than September's sales and DesRosiers points out some other interesting developments. "There still is a broad movement towards entry level vehicles (up 9.7 percent on the month and 11.3 percent on the year) and towards large/luxury/sport vehicles (down 7.7 percent on the month but up 11.9 percent on the year). Obviously, not all consumers are moving to smaller vehicles," he says.
Midsize family vehicles "are taking the hit," DesRosiers says, since their sales are down 3.9 percent in a total market that is up 3.9 percent.
Despite all those shifts in the sands of sales, it's still the same old names at the top of the year-to-date sales charts. The shifts are more obvious in the top-20 vehicles for September.
So, for the first nine months of 2005, the top-20 sales vehicles were as follows, with last year's sales in brackets:
1) Ford F-Series 54,489 (55,149) -1.2%
2) Dodge Caravan 51,465 (51,271) 0.4%
3) Honda Civic Sedan/Coupe 51,377 (48,368) 6.2%
4) Mazda3 42,595 (35,166) 21.1%
5) Toyota Corolla 37,150 (35,236) 5.4%
6) GMC Sierra 29,889 (29,991) -0.3%
7) Chevrolet Silverado 28,808 (28,457) 1.2%
8) Dodge Ram Pickup 28,204 (30,816) -8.5%
9) Toyota Echo 24,878 (24,166) 2.9%
10) Ford Focus 22,116 (22,692) -2.5%
11) Honda Accord 18,344 (19,854) -7.6%
12) Toyota Matrix 18,151 (15,247) 19.0%
13) Chevrolet Cobalt 17,845 (n.a.)
14) Ford Escape/Hybrid 17,051 (15,733) 8.4%
15) Chevrolet Uplander 16,750 (n.a.)
16) Pontiac Sunfire 16,239 (25,855) -37.2%
17) Pontiac Montana SV6 15,467 (n.a.)
18) Toyota Camry 15,176 (15,593) -2.7%
19) Ford Freestar 12,601 (17,233) -26.9%
20) Honda CR-V 11,643 (11,381) 2.3%
For September alone, the top-selling vehicles were as follows:
1) Ford F-Series 5,376 (6,104) -11.9%
2) Dodge Caravan 5,365 (3,991) 34.4%
3) Honda Civic Sedan/Coupe 5,246 (4,658) 12.6%
4) Toyota Corolla 4,962 (3,463) 43.3%
5) Mazda3 4,273 (2,740) 55.9%
6) Chevrolet Cobalt 3,101 (n.a.)
7) Chevrolet Silverado 2,806 (3,424) -18.0%
8) Dodge Ram Pickup 2,727 (2,681) 1.7%
9) GMC Sierra 2,677 (3,506) -23.6%
10) Ford Focus 2,469 (1,773) 39.3%
11) Toyota Matrix 2,170 (1,762) 23.2%
12) Toyota Echo 2,124 (2,607) -18.5%
13) Nissan Altima 1,968 (1,694) 16.2%
14) Pontiac Pursuit 1,948 (n.a.)
15) Chevrolet Malibu 1,934 (1,262) 53.2%
16) Ford Escape/Hybrid 1,780 (1,568) 13.5%
17) Chevrolet Uplander 1,536 (n.a.)
18) Pontiac Montana SV6 1,522 (n.a.)
19) Honda Odyssey 1,048 (690) 51.9%
20) Nissan X-Trail 1,004 (867) 15.8%
Change is visible in the results for the first three-quarters of 2005, but it's startlingly clear for September.
Light truck sales were down 10.8 percent in September, while car sales rose 5.3 percent. By comparison, for the first nine months of 2005 car sales are up 3.6 percent, while light truck sales rose 4.3 percent.
The analyst who calculates these numbers every month, Dennis DesRosiers, puts the change down to "high gas prices."
Along with the change in the overall car/truck market, DesRosiers points to the fact that the "four most fuel efficient segments -- sub-compact and compact passenger cars, small pickups and compact SUVs -- were also all up substantially" while the least fuel efficient segments were down quite a bit."
Specifically, DesRosiers reports that the Large SUV segment was down 47.6 percent, the Luxury SUV segment down 17.8 percent, and the Intermediate SUV segment down 27.0 percent.
"Consumers in Canada had partially resisted buying highly fuel efficient vehicles over the last few years," DesRosiers notes, but "this certainly was not the case in September."
Consider year-to-date rather than September's sales and DesRosiers points out some other interesting developments. "There still is a broad movement towards entry level vehicles (up 9.7 percent on the month and 11.3 percent on the year) and towards large/luxury/sport vehicles (down 7.7 percent on the month but up 11.9 percent on the year). Obviously, not all consumers are moving to smaller vehicles," he says.
Midsize family vehicles "are taking the hit," DesRosiers says, since their sales are down 3.9 percent in a total market that is up 3.9 percent.
Despite all those shifts in the sands of sales, it's still the same old names at the top of the year-to-date sales charts. The shifts are more obvious in the top-20 vehicles for September.
So, for the first nine months of 2005, the top-20 sales vehicles were as follows, with last year's sales in brackets:
1) Ford F-Series 54,489 (55,149) -1.2%
2) Dodge Caravan 51,465 (51,271) 0.4%
3) Honda Civic Sedan/Coupe 51,377 (48,368) 6.2%
4) Mazda3 42,595 (35,166) 21.1%
5) Toyota Corolla 37,150 (35,236) 5.4%
6) GMC Sierra 29,889 (29,991) -0.3%
7) Chevrolet Silverado 28,808 (28,457) 1.2%
8) Dodge Ram Pickup 28,204 (30,816) -8.5%
9) Toyota Echo 24,878 (24,166) 2.9%
10) Ford Focus 22,116 (22,692) -2.5%
11) Honda Accord 18,344 (19,854) -7.6%
12) Toyota Matrix 18,151 (15,247) 19.0%
13) Chevrolet Cobalt 17,845 (n.a.)
14) Ford Escape/Hybrid 17,051 (15,733) 8.4%
15) Chevrolet Uplander 16,750 (n.a.)
16) Pontiac Sunfire 16,239 (25,855) -37.2%
17) Pontiac Montana SV6 15,467 (n.a.)
18) Toyota Camry 15,176 (15,593) -2.7%
19) Ford Freestar 12,601 (17,233) -26.9%
20) Honda CR-V 11,643 (11,381) 2.3%
For September alone, the top-selling vehicles were as follows:
1) Ford F-Series 5,376 (6,104) -11.9%
2) Dodge Caravan 5,365 (3,991) 34.4%
3) Honda Civic Sedan/Coupe 5,246 (4,658) 12.6%
4) Toyota Corolla 4,962 (3,463) 43.3%
5) Mazda3 4,273 (2,740) 55.9%
6) Chevrolet Cobalt 3,101 (n.a.)
7) Chevrolet Silverado 2,806 (3,424) -18.0%
8) Dodge Ram Pickup 2,727 (2,681) 1.7%
9) GMC Sierra 2,677 (3,506) -23.6%
10) Ford Focus 2,469 (1,773) 39.3%
11) Toyota Matrix 2,170 (1,762) 23.2%
12) Toyota Echo 2,124 (2,607) -18.5%
13) Nissan Altima 1,968 (1,694) 16.2%
14) Pontiac Pursuit 1,948 (n.a.)
15) Chevrolet Malibu 1,934 (1,262) 53.2%
16) Ford Escape/Hybrid 1,780 (1,568) 13.5%
17) Chevrolet Uplander 1,536 (n.a.)
18) Pontiac Montana SV6 1,522 (n.a.)
19) Honda Odyssey 1,048 (690) 51.9%
20) Nissan X-Trail 1,004 (867) 15.8%