Canada Q3 2026: Subaru (+35.5%) impresses, Toyota RAV4 back above Honda CR-V

The Toyota RAV4 is back above the Honda CR-V year-to-date.

According to local consultancy DesRosiers Automotive, the Canadian new light vehicle market is estimated to grow 3.4% year-on-year in September to 168,000 units. This is the fourth straight month of year-on-year gains in Canada but the year-to-date tally remains in negative – just – at -0.4% to 1,445,329. Q3 volumes come at 493,352 and the September SAAR stands at 1.91 million. Over Q3, General Motors (-2.5%) edges down whereas Toyota Motor (+8.3%) surges, passing Ford Motor (-11.4%). Honda Canada (+6.5%) is also solid and Hyundai-Kia (+1.8%) satisfies. The BMW Group (+19.8%) and JLR (+17.9%) also stand out.

In the brands ranking, Ford (-12.2%) stays on top despite a harsh YoY fall ahead of Toyota (+6.9%). Chevrolet (+2.9%), Hyundai (+0.9%) and Honda (+7.1%) follow. Volkswagen (+6.2%) and Kia (+3.1%) are also sturdy. The best YoY increases are delivered by Subaru (+35.5%), Tesla (+30.4%), Land Rover (+28.5%), BMW (+25%), Lexus (+18.5%) and Lincoln (+9.9%). Further down, Rivian (+183.3%) and Lucid (+180.5%) make themselves noticed.

Over in the models charts, the Ford F-Series advances 1.7% to just under 36,000 sales, while the Toyota RAV4 (+6.6%) is back above its archenemy the Honda CR-V (+27%) in the year-to-date order. The GMC Sierra (-3.2%) and Chevrolet Silverado (-2.7%) round out the Top 5 but are in difficulty. In the remainder of the Top 10, the Honda Civic (+19.8%), Subaru Crosstrek (+13.5%) and Ram Pickup (+11.1%) all shine, with the Nissan Rogue (+4.9%) and Hyundai Tucson (+4.3%) also up. The reborn Chevrolet Bolt is up to #18 over the period while the Tesla Model 3 (+88.8%) benefits from shipments from China coming in full flow and its aggressive Canadian pricing (approximately 25% lower than in the U.S. for some trims).

Previous month: Canada August 2026: Subaru (+31.8%) stands out in solid market

One year ago: Canada Q3 2025: Hyundai (+20.2%), Toyota (+17.5%) impress, Nissan Kicks (+77.6%), Hyundai Tucson (+69.8%) stand out

Full Q3 2026 Top 15 OEMs, Top 46 All brands and Top 292 All models below.