Second-best March on record for Canadian new car sales

New light vehicle sales came in at 157,060 units, up 0.2 percent from March 2013. This past month has been the second-best March on record (2012 was the record year).

According to the most recent market snapshot by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, March sales brought year to date sales to 358,392 units up 0.9 percent. These numbers are not spectacular, but very strong by historical standards.  We are now entering the peak selling season and the next three months will tell us a lot as to whether this will be another record year.

The story across brands was very mixed with some double digit declines for the month with Mazda down 19.8 percent, BMW down 10.4 percent, Mitsubishi down 11.5 percent and Ford down 10.7 percent. There were also a number of double digit increases led by Jaguar up 43.2 percent and their sister company Land Rover who were up 25.5 percent. Nissan was up 26.4 percent and Subaru were up 11.5 percent. Volkswagen Canada saw stronger sales during the last week of March, bringing its monthly total to 4,026 units –down 31.6 percent over last year.

Most of the “big guns” in the industry (four of the top five) were up bringing the total industry count into positive territory. Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers delivered 21,790 vehicles in March, an increase of nearly 8 per cent. Toyota was up 4.9 percent and Honda was up 5.4 percent. Although Chrysler/Fiat were up only 1.5 percent this continued their very long streak of month over previous year month increases, which now stands at 52 months. It also gave Chrysler/Fiat a sizable lead over Ford for the best-selling manufacturer in Canada. Chrysler/Fiat started 2013 with a lead over Ford but was overtaken later in the year. This year Chrysler/Fiat has a sizable lead so Ford has their work cut out for them. General Motors remains an enigma … up when many expect them to be down and down when many expect them to be up. General Motors is down 4.6 percent for the year but had a strong March with a 7.8% gain.

Perhaps the biggest ongoing dynamic is the strength in the light truck market with sales up 5.1 percent in March while passenger car sales were down 5.7 percent. A similar trend can be seen year to date with trucks up 6.3 percent and cars down 6.2 percent.

In the luxury category, Mercedes Benz is the leader with sales up 0.2 percent for the month and 7.6 percent year to date. Audi is up for the month and YTD and Porsche is up as well. The Japanese luxury brands, Lexus, Infiniti and Acura were also all up nicely. Even little Volvo has turned the corner with positive sales for the month and year to date. The one luxury brand with declining sales is BMW who were down by 10.4 percent for March and down 1.3 percent YTD.

www.desrosiers.ca