Canada October 2020: Volvo (+25.5%), Kia (+19.4%), Subaru (+12%) can’t prevent a return to negative (-2%)

Volvo sales are up 25.5% in a Canadian market down an estimated 2%.

Local consultancy Desrosiers estimates new light vehicle sales in Canada dip roughly -2% year-on-year to around 158.000 sales. This is the 7th year-on-year drop this year but an indication sales are stabilising after gaining 2.4% in September. It leads to a year-to-date tally down -21.2% to around 1.319.600 units. We’ve adjusted our 2020 Canada Forecast from 1.57 million (-19%) last month to 1.55 million sales (-20%) as the last two months of the year will now likely be in negative given soft lockdowns are spreading in some parts of the country where the Covid-19 pandemic is worsening.

Quite strikingly, most carmakers still reporting monthly sales are showing a very positive picture. Among groups, Hyundai-Kia is up 9.8%, Toyota Canada is up 1.5% but Honda Canada sinks -11.1%. Among brands, Volvo (+25.5%), Kia (+19.4%), Subaru (+12%), Mazda (+6.3%), Hyundai (+4.9%) and Toyota (+3.7%) shine while Lexus (-14.7%), Genesis (-14.3%), Acura (-13.7%) and Honda (-10.8%) struggle. Subaru was helped by a record month by the Crosstrek (up 46.6% to 2.724) to reach its 2nd largest ever monthly volume at 6.319.

The Toyota RAV4 (+9.1%), Mazda CX-5 (+16.2%), Hyundai Kona (+34.7%), Toyota Tacoma (+82.7%) and Kia Seltos (record 1.936) post very impressive scores among the best-selling models with available monthly data. Further down the list, the Toyota Tundra (+80.1%), Camry (+41.1%), Hyundai Palisade (+31.6%), Honda Pilot (+26.4%), Subaru Outback (+26.1%), Hyundai Santa Fe (+17.1%), Toyota 4Runner (+15.2%) and Highlander (+13.5%) also impress with double-digit gains, all light trucks bar the Camry.

Previous month: Canada September 2020: Subaru (+39%), Kia (+28.6%), Volvo (+20.9%) trigger market uptick (+2.4%)

One year ago: Canada October 2019: Jeep (+12%), Kia (+11%), Honda (+7.8%) headline 19th drop in past 20 months (-0.8%)

Full October 2020 sales for selected 6 groups, 10 brands and 86 models below.