Canada March 2018: Top Four 100% Full-size pickups, market down 0.5%

Hefty discounts ahead of the arrival of the 2019 model (pictured) push Ram Pickup sales up 7%.

* See the Top 15 groups, Top 37 brands and Top 265 models by clicking on the title *

The Canadian new light vehicle market records its first year-on-year drop of 2018 at -0.5% to 186.993 registrations, but thanks to solid results during the first two months of the year, the year-to-date volume breaks another record at 430.856 units, up 1.9% on the previous record established in 2017. According to local consultancy Desrosiers whose figures are slightly lower due to the absence of some luxury brands such as Tesla, light trucks progress 5.2% to 132.515 sales or 71.1% of the market whereas passenger cars drop 12.4% to 53.932 or just 28.9% share. Year-to-date, light trucks gain 6.4% to 308.072 or 71.8% but passenger cars decline 8.2% to 121.186 or 28.2%. General Motors spectacularly regains control of the groups ranking both in March wth 16.1% share and year-to-date at 15.1%, leaving Ford Motor (13.9%), FCA (13.1%) and Toyota Motor (11.3%) far in the distance. FCA still ranks #2 YTD but is only 70 sales above Ford Motor. The Volkswagen Group posts a very satisfying 23.6% year-on-year gain this month and 26.2% YTD.

The Chevrolet Silverado is also up 7% this month in Canada.

Over in the brands ranking, Ford remains comfortably ahead at 13.5% share but drops 2.3% whereas Toyota soars 9.7% to 10.1%., the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 8. Chevrolet (+1.3%), Honda (-8.4%) and Nissan (-3.7%) round up the Top 5 while Hyundai is hit hard at -12.2%. Once again Jeep posts the biggest improvement among mass brands with a 43.8% surge lifting it to #9 just below Ram (+6.1%). It ranks #6 over Q1 2018. Below, Volvo (+39.4%), Mitsubishi (+39%), Volkswagen (+31.8%), Tesla (+28.6%), Lincoln (+26.1%) and Audi (+14%) deliver double-digit year-on-year gains while among smaller brands Alfa Romeo (+492.3%) and Genesis (+320%) stand out. There is also a handful of deep dives, the worst all being the property of FCA: Fiat (-84.6%), Dodge (-43.8%), Chrysler (-43.6%) and Maserati (-38.5%).

The Jeep Wrangler breaks it all-time volume record in Canada this month.

The Ford F-Series overcomes a steep 11% year-on-year drop to dominate a Canadian models ranking skewed particularity heavily towards full-size pickups this month: it distances the Ram Pickup (+7%), Chevrolet Silverado (+7%) and GMC Sierra (-5%), monopolising the Top 4 for the second time in the past four months. Traditional best-seller in the passenger car segment, the Honda Civic holds onto its throne but drops 23% to #5 overall. The Toyota RAV4 (+21%) leads all SUVs, unperturbed by the impending arrival of a new generation, ahead of the Honda CR-V (+11%), Nissan Rogue (-6%) and Ford Escape (-1%).

The new model propels VW Tiguan sales up 150% in Canada this month.

Just outside the Top 10, the Jeep Wrangler posts another fantastic result: up a whopping 217% on March 2017 to 3.839 sales – a new all-time volume record for the nameplate. The Jeep Compass (+987%), VW Tiguan (+150%), Subaru Crosstrek (+102%), Honda Odyssey (+49%), Mitsubishi Outlander (+49%), Mazda CX-3 (+41%), Mazda CX-5 (+36%), Audi Q5 (+32%) are the most dynamic in the remainder of the Top 50. The Nissan Qashqai (#25) continues to dominate recent launches (<12 months) head and shoulders, followed by the VW Atlas (#66), Toyota C-HR (#85) and Ford Ecosport (#86). This month we welcome no less than five newcomers in the Canadian sales charts: the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross at #133, the Jaguar E-Pace at #191, BMW X2 at #200, Volvo XC40 at #205 and Genesis G70 at #237.

Previous month: Canada January 2018: Jeep, VW and Chevrolet shine in record market

Previous year: Canada Full Year 2017: F-Series and Ram break records in first 2m year

Full March 2018 Top 15 groups, Top 37 brands and Top 265 models below.