Canada March/Q1 2026: Ford Motor (+14.4%), Stellantis (+14.6%) shine, sales down -4.4%

Ford F-Series sales are up 9.4% over Q1.

Local consultancy Desrosiers Automotive has the Canadian new light vehicle market down a steep -8.2% year-on-year in March to 170,000 units. The SAAR is down to 1.85 million, the lowest since September 2025. The Q1 volume is down -4.4% to 406,000. Desrosiers considers this result as a solid one given the soaring gas prices and tariff-related economic headwinds. In the Q1 OEM charts, Ford Motor (+14.4%) brilliantly overtakes General Motors (-13.1%) while Hyundai-Kia (+0.8%) remains above Toyota Motor (-2.4%). Stellantis (+14.6%) stages a comeback with the Volkswagen Group (+7.7%) also strong.

In the Q1 brands charts, Ford (+14.1%) defies the negative market to sail away into the distance at almost 68,000 sales vs. under 43,000 for #2 Toyota (-1.1%). Chevrolet (-6.5%), Hyundai (+1.8%) and Honda (-8.7%) complete the Top 5. Volkswagen (+12.7%), Mitsubishi (+7.3%), Ram (+6.9%) and Jeep (+3.2%) also shine below. Hit hard are Tesla (-39.2%), Buick (-33.5%), Cadillac (-21.8%) and Mercedes (-20%).

Over in the models charts, the Ford F-Series (+9.4%) widens the gap with its followers to an outstanding  20,431 units while selling just over 34,000 units itself. The GMC Sierra (-15.2%) grabs the 2nd spot despite falling heavily year-on-year, while the Honda CR-V (-5%) climbs to #3 and #1 SUV. The Chevrolet Silverado (-11.9%) is in difficulty in 4th place whereas the Hyundai Tucson (+47.7%) surges to #5 ahead of the Nissan Kicks (+27.4%) and Ram Pickup (+16.6%). Other great performers below include the VW Tiguan (+135.8%) and Kia Sportage (+51.4%). Handicapped by a lousy generation changeover the Toyota RAV4 dives -62.7% to #13 vs. a traditional 2nd spot overall.

Previous post: Canada February 2026: bZ4X is Toyota’s best-seller

One year ago: Canada March/Q1 2025: GM (+17.3%) posts largest growth among main OEMs, best March volume in 7 years

Full Q1 2026 Top 15 OEMs, Top 45 All brands and Top 297 All models below.