Canada April LV Sales Second-Best, Despite Light Truck Record
Executive Summary
Slumping car sales and fewer selling days drag down Canadian LV market in April, but light trucks still soar.
Canadian dealers sold 7,862 light vehicles daily in April, a 6.0% gain from the 7,416-a-day rate in like-2016, but with only 25 selling days this year compared with 27 a year ago volume for the month was down 1.8%.
Overall, buyers took home 196,547 new cars and light trucks in April, the second-best April showing in history behind prior-year’s record 200,242.
In addition to fewer selling days, a downturn in car sales to 2,638 daily from 2,679, saw deliveries of those vehicles drop to 65,955 from 72,344 a year earlier. The April record for car sales was set in 1987 at 120,924 units.
Light trucks, on the other hand, rose to an April record of 130,592, eclipsing the prior benchmark of 127,503 set just last year, and continuing a string of monthly benchmarks that started in November 2016. It also marked the fifth consecutive April light-truck record.
Posting a 7.1% year-over-year gain, Ford returned to the top spot in April LV sales, a position it ceded to archrival Fiat Chrysler the prior month in an on-going seesaw battle. FCA’s April tally was down 2.6% compared with a year earlier.
Aside from increases of 208% for EV maker Tesla, General Motors saw the largest gain of any manufacturer, 25.7%, thanks to solid increases by its Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands.
Total LV sales for January-April reached a record 617,199 units, 2.4% more than the 602,634 sold in like-2016.
Ford’s narrow 23-unit lead over FCA gave it bragging rights for the year, a reversal from 2016, when FCA led by 2,677 vehicles.
Lower-volume brands with significant increases this year include Jaguar, up 218.3%; Tesla with a 141.9% increase and Fiat, up 108.3%.
