Canada Full Year 2019: Ram (+13.8%) stands out, light trucks up to 80% share, market slips below 2m (-3.7%)
The Ram Pickup outsold the Ford F-Series for the first time in December.
Discover over 35 years of Canadian Historical Data here.
New light vehicle sales in Canada endure a second straight year of decline in 2019 at -3.7% to 1.928.829 registrations, the first time the market drops below the 2 million annual unit-mark since 2016. December (-4.6%) marked the 21st monthly decline in the past 22. According to local consultancy Desrosiers, whose total figures are slightly lower due to the absence of some luxury brands such as Tesla, light trucks broke their all-time market share record no less than 3 times in H2 alone, up 76.8% in August, 77.9% in November and incredibly teasing the 80% milestone in December at 79.6%. Over the Full Year, light trucks manage to edge up 1.6% to 1.429.670 units and see their annual share soar from 70.9% in 2018 (at the time a new record) to 74.7% this year. And judging by the direction the market is taking a 80% share in 2020 is not impossible. In contrast, passenger cars freefall down -16.1% to just 484.687 unites and 25.3% share vs. 29.1% a year ago.
Ford Motor (-3.4%) manage to lose slightly less volume than the market but remains at 14.9% share, widening the gap with General Motors (-10.9%) in great difficulty and losing over one percentage point of share at 13.3% vs. 14.4% a year ago. Sadly Toyota Motor (+2.4%) thanks to record electrified sales at 34.609 (+45%), Hyundai-Kia (+4.5%) and Volvo NA (+10.2%) are the only groups capable of registering a volume gain in 2019, just as Tesla (-26.3%), Nissan/Mitsubishi (-8.1%), Mercedes-Benz Canada (-7.4%), the BMW Group (-7.2%), the Volkswagen Group (-5%) and Jaguar Land Rover (-4.3%) all lose volume and share and FCA (-0.9%), Subaru (-0.9%) and Honda Motor (-3.4%) resist somewhat.
The Ford F-Series is #1 in Canada for the 11th straight year.
In the brands ranking, Ford (-3.6%) continues to reign supreme at a stable 14.5% share, distancing Toyota (+1.9%) at 11% and Honda (-3.4%) at 8.8%. Chevrolet (-14.1%) is in perdition at #4 and now threatened by Hyundai (+4.2%) gaining half a percentage point of share to 6.9% and overtaking Nissan (-9.4%) also struggling mightily. Replicating its performance from across the border in the U.S., Ram (+13.8%) is by far the best performer in Canada in 2019, delivering the only double-digit year-on-year among the Top 25 brands and the best progression in the Top 33, with Volvo (+10.2%) the only additional marque managing double-digits among carmakers securing at least 0.1% share. Only tiny volume-sellers also gain a lot: Lamborghini (+172.2%) thanks to the Urus, McLaren (+79.1%), Bentley (+14.3%) and Rolls Royce (+11.1%). Notice also Lexus (+5.9%), Lincoln (+5.9%), Genesis (+5.8%), Kia (+5%), Porsche (+1.4%), Mitsubishi (+1.2%), Land Rover (+0.9%) and Cadillac (+0.2%) swimming upstream with upticks.
Model-wise, the Ford F-Series (-0.4%) only edges down to stay on top for the 11th straight year and the 16th time in the past 17 years (only interrupted by the Honda Civic in 2008). According to Ford, the F-Series is also the best-selling pickup for the 54th consecutive year although our records differ. Ford’s full-size pickup delivers its 3rd largest ever annual volume at just under 145.100 below 2017 (155.300) and 2018 (145.700). Note the F-Series is the only nameplate have ever crossed the 100.000 annual unit-milestone in Canada, and has done so for the past 8 years. In 2nd place like in the U.S. the Ram Pickup (+14%) surges to its 2nd largest volume ever, just under 96.800. But even more impressively, the Ram Pickup became the best-selling nameplate in the country for the first time in December with an estimated 6.619 sales (+31.4%) vs. just 6.128 (-26.3%) for the F-Series, putting an end to 96 consecutive months of F-Series domination: the last time it wasn’t #1 was in November 2011 (Honda Civic).
The Toyota RAV4 secures its first ever podium finish in Canada.
The Toyota RAV4 (+17.8%) manages the largest gain in the Top 14, is up two spots on 2018 to earn its first ever Canadian podium finish at #3 and snaps the SUV crown for the 4th consecutive year. Strikingly, the RAV4 extends its lead over the #2 SUV, the Honda CR-V (+1.8%) from a perilous 506 units in 2018 to a much more comfortable 9.388 this year. This has a lot to do with the success of its Hybrid variant which accounts for 20% of the RAV4 2019 sales in Canada, with some regions split 50/50 with combustion variants. The Honda Civic (-12.8%) celebrates 22 years in a row as the most popular passenger car in Canada but is ejected from the podium at #4. Within its segment, it distances the Toyota Corolla (-2.5%) and Hyundai Elantra (-5.6%) ranking at #8 and #10 overall respectively, like in 2018. The GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado both lose just -3.3% but drop to #6 and #7 respectively from #4 and #5 last year.
Impressive gainers further down include the Nissan Kicks (+268.8%), Hyundai Kona (+78.1%), Honda HR-V (+43.1%), Jeep Grand Cherokee (+38%), Dodge Durango (+32.7%), Mercedes GLC (+21.2%), Toyota Prius (+14.5%) and VW Jetta (+14.1%) but there were harsh declines also, such as the Chevrolet Cruze (-63.9%), Ford Explorer (-47.1%), Jeep Cherokee (-34%), Hyundai Santa Fe (-21.1%), Mazda3 (-20.4%), Honda Accord (-17.7%) and Chevrolet Equinox (-16.7%). Like in the U.S., the Ford Ranger (#75) is the most successful 2019 launch in Canada, eclipsing the Hyundai Palisade (#108), Kia Telluride (#133), Chevrolet Blazer (#139), Lexus UX (#142), Honda Passport (#143) and Jeep Gladiator (#165).
Previous month: Canada November 2019: FCA (+9.7%), Hyundai-Kia (+6.1%) can’t prevent 20th decline in 21 months (-0.8%)
Two years ago: Canada 2017: F-Series and Ram Pickup break records in first 2m year
Full Year 2019 Top 15 groups, Top 40 brands and Top 301 models vs. Full Year 2018 figures below.
Full December 2019 Top 15 groups, Top 40 brands and Top 275 models below.
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