Canada May 2017: Ram teases F-Series in all-time record month
The Ram Pickup smashes its monthly volume record by 52% this month.
* See the Top 15 groups, Top 35 brands and Top 270 models by clicking on the title *
Far from running out of steam, Canadian new light vehicle sales post their first double digit year-on-year gain of the year in May at +11.2% to break the all-time record monthly volume established in April 2016, lifting it to 216.861 units. This is only the second time in Canadian history that monthly sales surpass 200.000. Accordingly, the year-to-date tally now stands at a record 835.582 units, up 4.7% on the same period a year ago. In May, passenger cars are back in positive territory, up 2.9% to 75.172 with light trucks up 16.3% to 141.689 but year-to-date PCs are down 2.5% to 273.405 while light trucks are up 8.5% to 562.177, commanding a 67.3% market share vs. 64.9% a year ago. The best performing segment this month is by far pickup trucks, up 38.2% to 46.873 units.
Chevrolet sales are up 37.7% and the Cruze is up 122%. Picture caranddriver.com
Ford Motor Co. surges 17.4% to 15.9% share, reclaiming the group lead it holds year-to-date. FCA trails the market at +4.6% to 15.3% but gains one spot year-to-date to #2, overtaking General Motors despite the latter posting a spectacular 35.8% year-on-year gain in May. GM is up a stunning 18% so far this year, by far the largest increase among the Top 10 groups in Canada. Looking at the other groups further down the ranking, it becomes apparent that Ford and GM are the true engines of growth this month: Toyota Motor (+7.8%) and Hyundai-Kia (+3.8%) trail the overall growth but Honda Motor (+11.8%) is slightly above.
Ford towers above the rest of the market in the brands ranking with a 17.3% gain, followed by Toyota (+7.4%) and Honda (+11.6%) but the real heroes are below: Chevrolet takes off at +37.7%, Ram does even better at +61% and GMC surges 35.3%. Subaru (+17.6%), Audi (+16.6%) and Lexus (+11.9%) are the only other carmakers registering a double-digit gain inside the Top 20 while below, Cadillac (+57.9%), Lincoln (+21.4%), Jaguar (+166.2%), Maserati (+80.6%) and Alfa Romeo (+871.4%) impress. Reversely, Jeep tumbles down 31%, Chrysler is down 25%, Volkswagen down 9.9% and Dodge down 9%.
The Nissan Qashqai has (finally) landed in Canada.
The fight for first place is heating up in the models ranking: although the Ford F-Series posts its second highest ever monthly volume at 15.307 (+20%), the Ram Pickup manages to smash its record volume established last month (9.883) by more than 5.000 sales and 52% to lift it to an incredible 14.990 deliveries. That’s up 62% year-on-year and just 317 sales below the F-Series: never had the two nameplate been so close sales-wise. As mentioned above, it’s a pickup-dominated top of the ranking with the GMC Sierra (+43%) and Chevrolet Silverado (+45%) posting the next two biggest gains in the Top 10. The Ford Escape (+26%) takes the lead of the crossover ranking but it’s the Toyota RAV4 (+10%) that overtakes the Honda CR-V (+26%) to take the lead of the category year-to-date. The Chevrolet Cruze (+122%) also shines.
A few new nameplates make their first appearance in the Canadian ranking this month: the Toyota C-HR leads them all at #77, followed by the Nissan Qashqai at #164, the VW Atlas at #181, the Land Rover Discovery at #206 and the Lexus LC at #253.
Previous month: Canada April 2017: Ram Pickup breaks record in market down 1.5%
One year ago: Canada May 2016: FCA scores strongest month ever, market down 2%
Full May 2017 Top 15 groups, Top 35 brands and Top 270 models below.