Who buys what?
Pickup trucks in the West, small foreign cars back East...
If you talk to Dennis DesRosiers, one of Canada's top auto analysts, he will tell you that the maple leaf country is the most international auto market in the world. Indeed, while the West and middle part of Canada prefer pickup trucks and domestic products, Quebec is snubbing pickups in favor of small imported cars.
You can easily imagine the nightmares automakers have to deal with, trying to satisfy such diametrically opposed needs at the same time. With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to look at who buys what exactly, North of the border.
Pickup trucks...
In 2006, about 1.6 million vehicles were sold in Canada. That's more or less the same amount of units sold in the U.S... each month. The Canadian market is not only small compared to its giant neighbor but also very much heterogeneous, whether you're in the East or the West.
Unsurprisingly, consumers in the Prairies swear by pickup trucks. As a matter of fact, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba account for almost half (40%) of all pickup truck sales in Canada.
When all types of trucks are considered, the Prairies are the only provinces to buy more trucks than cars, year in and year out. Meanwhile, on a national scale, people continue to prefer cars (54% last year).
... vs cars
At geographical and statistical opposites, Quebec chooses cars over trucks more than any other province (66% vs 33%).
In fact, there are twice as much sub-compact cars sold in "La Belle province" than anywhere else in Canada. And despite accounting for a quarter of the auto market, Quebec is responsible for a third of all compact car sales.
Pickup trucks in the West, small foreign cars back East...
If you talk to Dennis DesRosiers, one of Canada's top auto analysts, he will tell you that the maple leaf country is the most international auto market in the world. Indeed, while the West and middle part of Canada prefer pickup trucks and domestic products, Quebec is snubbing pickups in favor of small imported cars.
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| Ford F-Series |
You can easily imagine the nightmares automakers have to deal with, trying to satisfy such diametrically opposed needs at the same time. With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to look at who buys what exactly, North of the border.
Pickup trucks...
In 2006, about 1.6 million vehicles were sold in Canada. That's more or less the same amount of units sold in the U.S... each month. The Canadian market is not only small compared to its giant neighbor but also very much heterogeneous, whether you're in the East or the West.
Unsurprisingly, consumers in the Prairies swear by pickup trucks. As a matter of fact, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba account for almost half (40%) of all pickup truck sales in Canada.
When all types of trucks are considered, the Prairies are the only provinces to buy more trucks than cars, year in and year out. Meanwhile, on a national scale, people continue to prefer cars (54% last year).
... vs cars
At geographical and statistical opposites, Quebec chooses cars over trucks more than any other province (66% vs 33%).
In fact, there are twice as much sub-compact cars sold in "La Belle province" than anywhere else in Canada. And despite accounting for a quarter of the auto market, Quebec is responsible for a third of all compact car sales.
 |
| Honda Civic |