Canada May 2015: Ram closes in on F-Series in all-time record month

The Ram Pickup is only 975 sales below the Ford F-Series in Canada this month.

* UPDATED – See the Top 20 groups, Top 35 brands and Top 259 All-models *

Never before had Canadians bought as many new light vehicles in a single month as last May: 197.937 or 1% more than May 2014 and lifting the 5 month-tally to a record 755.582 units. FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reclaim the group leadership off General Motors this month with 31.617 sales above Ford Motor at 29.043 and GM at 27.462. Toyota overtakes Hyundai-Kia while Nissan Motor gains 22% and Volkswagen Group gains 18%. Brand-wise, Ford stays at #1 by a large margin despite sales down 9% to 28.338 ahead of Toyota at 19.821 (-2%), Chevrolet at 16.473 (+9%), Honda at 15.853 (-4%) and Hyundai at 14.217 (-3%). Further down, Jeep (+27%) passes Dodge (-19%) to #8, and most premium manufacturers enjoy double-digit growth such as Audi up 26%, Lincoln up 27%, Mercedes up 28%, Porsche up 31% and Mini up 77%.

Kia Forte sales almost double year-on-year in May.

The Ford F-Series remains the best-selling vehicle in Canada in May but with its slimmest margin over the Ram Pickup (975 units) since BSCB started following the monthly Canadian new car market 5 years ago… Are we approaching the end of an era? The next generation Ram could be well placed to topple a supremacy that has now lasted for a full decade, with the Honda Civic last topping the annual Canadian sales charts in 2005. Below the Toyota Corolla, the Ford Escape jumps back to #5 while the GMC Sierra (+15%), Chevrolet Silverado (+12%) and Toyota RAV4 (+22%) lodge the largest year-on-year gains in the Top 10.

First month of sales in Canada for the Mazda CX-3.

Further down, notice the Nissan Rogue up 32% to #12, the Jeep Cherokee up 50% and breaking into the Top 15 for the very first time, the Kia Forte up 91% to #22, the VW Golf up 260% to #25, Jeep Patriot up 136% to #32 and the Chevrolet Malibu up 107% to #38. There are four all-new nameplates making their entrance in the Canadian sales charts this month, led by the Mazda CX-3 landing directly at an impressive #69 with 717 sales. The remainders are all outside the Top 200 for now: the Land Rover Discovery Sport at #222, the Mercedes AMG GT at #225 and the Fiat 500X at #254.

Previous month: Canada April 2015: No end to record run in sight

One year ago: Canada May 2014: Market up 6% to reach best May figure ever

Full May 2015 Top 20 groups, Top 35 brands and Top 259 All-models below.