Canada Full Year 2021: Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan help lift market up 6.6%, F-Series #1 for 13th straight year

The Ford F-Series remains the best-selling vehicle in Canada.

Discover over 35 years of Canadian Historical Data here.

After a month of December down -4.5% to 102,919 and Q4 2021 sales off -12.4% to 347,277, the Canadian new vehicle market ends the year up 6.6% to 1,663,277 units, still far off the 2 million record the market hit back in 2017. According to Desrosiers Automotive whose figures are slightly lower due to not including certain brands like Tesla, light truck sales cross the symbolic 80% share for the first time thanks to sales up 8.3% to 1,330,229 and 81.2% share vs. 79.9% a year ago and 74.7% in 2019. Meanwhile, passenger cars edge down -0.1% to 308,169 and 18.8% share vs. 20.1% in 2020. In the groups ranking, Ford Motor (+1.7%) holds onto the top spot while Toyota Motor (+17.7%) shoots up and overtakes General Motors (-0.5%) like it does in the neighbouring U.S. Hyundai-Kia (+12.9%) also impresses but remains in 4th place, sailing away from Stellantis (-9.5%) in trouble. Below, the VW Group (+17.9%), the BMW Group (+16.8%) and Nissan/Mitsubishi (+16.7%) make themselves noticed.

Looking at the brands charts, Ford (+1.6%) remains on top but sees its share thaw from 14.9% to 14.2%. It distances Toyota (+16.8%) which reduces its gap with the #1 from 61,600 last year to 36,600 this time. Honda (+4.2%) is shy in third place above Hyundai (+12.7%). Chevrolet (-2.6%) ensures the Top 5 remains identical to 2020 while Nissan (+12%), GMC (+2.1%) and Kia (+9.3%) all pass Ram (-12.3%) in difficulty. Mazda (+7.7%) rounds out the Top 10 like last year while Volkswagen (+21%) is up two spots to #11. Genesis (+212.5%), Chrysler (+150.1%), Maserati (+70.9%), Mitsubishi (+46.9%), Alfa Romeo (+32.6%), Lexus (+24.4%), Porsche (+23.5%), Volvo (+20.5%), BMW (+20.2%), Acura (+14.9%) and Audi (+11.2%) also shine further down.

Over in the models ranking, despite a steep fall at odds with the market, the Ford F-Series (-9.5%) is the best-selling pickup in the country for the 56th consecutive year and the most popular vehicle overall for the 13th straight year (no interruption since 2009). The Ram Pickup (-12.2%) and Toyota RAV4 (-8.9%) also both lose ground in an increasingly fragmented market. The GMC Sierra (+4.4%) is the first gainer in market and overtakes its brother the Chevrolet Silverado (-2.1%) to rank 4th overall. There are four pickups in the Top 5 like last year. The Honda CR-V (+1.6%) also climbs one spot to #6, passing the Honda Civic (-14.3%), the best-selling passenger car in Canada for the 24th year in a row. The Toyota Corolla (+7.7%) and Hyundai Kona (-2%) camp on their 2020 ranking at #8 and #9 respectively, with the Nissan Rogue (+15.1%) cracking the Top 10 at #10. The Ford Bronco (#98) is the most successful 2021 launch just above the Kia Carnival (#101) and VW Taos (#105).

Previous month: Canada November 2021: Hyundai (+2.1%) defies market down -13.9%

Previous year: Canada 2020: Cadillac only gainer, Ford F-Series leads for 12th straight year, market down -19.7% to lowest since 2009

Two years ago: Canada 2019: Ram (+13.8%) stands out, light trucks up to 80% share, market slips below 2m (-3.7%)

Full Q4 2021 Top 15 groups, Top 40 brands and Top 270 models below.

Full Year 2021 Top 15 groups, Top 40 brands and Top 310 models vs. Full Year 2020 figures below.