Canada August 2020: Volvo (+25.5%), Kia (+14.9%), Subaru (+11.5%) defy market down -8.9%

The new Seltos breaks its volume record, helping Kia up 14.9%.

Estimates by local consultancy Desrosiers have the Canadian new light vehicle market down -8.9% year-on-year in August to 165.837 units, a slight worsening from the -4.9% of July which brings the year-to-date tally down -27% to 975.356 units. The Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate (SAAR) stands at 1.81 million, up marginally from July but still well below standard levels. Among the small amount of manufacturers still reporting monthly sales for Canada, Hyundai-Kia (+5.4%) performs best with Toyota Motor (-3.5%) also outpacing the declining market whereas Honda Motor (-16%) tumbles down. Brand-wise, surprisingly 4 out of the 10 brands communicating their sales for August manage a year-on-year gain. The most impressive is Volvo at +25.5% followed  by Kia at +14.9% and Subaru at +11.5% while Hyundai (+0.4%) only edges up. In fact an additional 3 brands also keep their loss below the market rate: Toyota (-3.1%), Mazda (-4.8%) and Lexus (-6.9%) but Genesis (-28.7%), Acura (-19.5%) and Honda (-15.7%) crumble.

Model-wise, in volume order some of the best performers this month include the Toyota RAV4 (+31.4%), Hyundai Kona (+58.8%), Kia Sorento (+29.4%), Toyota Highlander (+16.4%), Toyota Camry (+59.2%), Subaru Forester (+28.6%), Toyota Tacoma (+21.2%), Subaru Outback (+26.9%), Hyundai Palisade (+20.6%) and Lexus RX (+16.3%). Meanwhile the Kia Seltos (1.781) and Hyundai Venue (1.138) both break their volume record this month.

Previous month: Canada July 2020: Lexus (+17.5%), Volvo (+11.8%), Subaru (+10.1%) help thin market loss to -4.9%

One year ago: Canada August 2019: Light trucks hit record 76.8% share, Ram (+15.6%), Toyota (+10.4%) lift market to first gain in 18 months (+0.2%)

Full August 2020 sales for selected 6 groups, 10 brands and 85 models below.