Canada January 2019: Hyundai, Toyota strong, Tesla Model 3 in Top 10 in 11th straight market decline

The Tesla Model 3 is among Canada’s 10 best-selling vehicles in January.

Canadian new light vehicle sales endure an 11th straight month of decline in January at -5.6% to 117.744 units. According to local consultancy Desrosiers whose figures are slightly lower due to the absence of some luxury brands such as Tesla, light truck sales (-4.9%) continue to outpace the market at 81.690 units, reaching an all-time record 75.1% market share vs. 73.2% a year ago in January 2018 which was the previous monthly record. Reversely passenger cars (-13.7%) skid down again to just 27.084 sales and a very slim 24.9% share vs. 26.8% a year ago. In the groups ranking, Ford (-1.9%) improves to 14.5% share, distancing General Motors (-14.8%), a very impressive Toyota Motor (+14.1%) and an imploding FCA (-19.2%) all fitting within just 60 sales. Honda Motor (-17.6%) is in great difficulty but manages to return inside the Top 5 ahead of Hyundai-Kia surging 17.5%.

Brand-wise, Ford (-1.8%) towers above the competition at 14.1% share while Toyota (+14.4%) gallops to 11.5% of Canadian sales but Honda (-17.7%), Chevrolet (-22.5%) and Nissan (-9%) all fall faster than the market. Hyundai (+22.4%) posts an exceptional month, managing the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 15. Kia (+9.1%) and Ram (+8.8%) are also solid but Jeep (-34.7%), Dodge (-26.9%) and Mazda (-15.2%) fade out. Further down, Tesla is up an estimated 422.2% thanks to the Model 3, with Genesis (+70%), Cadillac (+41.9%), Volvo (+20.3%), Mitsubishi (+15.9%) and Lexus (+11.6%) also impressive.

The Chevrolet Blazer is one of 4 new or returning nameplates hitting the Canadian sales charts in January.

Over in the models ranking, the Ford F-Series (+10%) and Ram Pickup (+8.9%) sail off in the distance with very satisfying year-on-year gains, whereas the Honda Civic (-18%), although rallying back up 4 spots on December, is down sharply on January 2018. The Toyota RAV4 (+31.6%) confirms it is the favourite SUV in Canada with the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 15. It’s a bad month for Honda, whose CR-V (-23.7%) is also in segment-defying dire straits whereas the Toyota Corolla (+24.4%) swims upstream in a devastated passenger car context thanks to the new hatch.

The Tesla Model 3 passes a historical milestone, breaking into the monthly Canadian Top 10 for the very first time at #10, leading recent launches (<12 months) ahead of the Hyundai Kona (#20) and Nissan Kicks (#67). It’s a big month for newcomers in Canada with no less than four new nameplates making their first appearance (or return) in the charts, starting with the Chevrolet Blazer at #76, the Lexus UX at #96, the resurrected Ford Ranger at #118 and the Toyota Mirai at #261.

Previous post: Canada Full Year 2018: Light trucks hit all-time high 70.9% share, F-Series, Civic and RAV4 lead respective segments in first market drop since 2010

One year ago: Canada January 2018: Honda, Jeep and Chevrolet soar in market up 5.9%

Full January 2019 Top 15 groups, Top 36 brands and Top 270 models below.