Auto analyst Dennis Desrosiers has just released his monthly breakdown of the best-selling vehicles in Canada and the big story in the car segment is that the Toyota Corolla is back on top as the best-selling car in the country, edging out Honda's Civic. The Civic is still the bestseller on a year-to-date basis. Both those models are also getting a big challenge from the Mazda3 in what is the mostly hotly competitive segment of Canada's car market.
Meanwhile, when it comes to SUVs and pickups, Ford's F-Series continues to be the hands-down winner.
Overall, though, sales are still down this year compared to last. For the first 10 months of the year, combined sales of cars and light trucks are off 13.2 per cent compared to the first 10 months of 2008. Still there are some segments that are holding up relatively well. Sales of sports cars, for example, are only off by 3.4 per cent for the year. Sports cars, though, make up less than two per cent of all vehicles sold. Then there's the compact sport utility market — like the Toyota RAV 4 — which makes up nearly 15 per cent of the entire vehicle market and is the single largest segment within the light truck market. Sales for the year in that category are off by just 2.9 per cent.
Here's your top five sellers with the number of units moved in October and then the percentage change compared to the same month last year.
Cars:
- Toyota Corolla 5,192 29.8%
- Honda Civic 4,736 20.3%
- Mazda3 3,657 11.4%
- Hyundai Elantra 2,723 296.9%
- Toyota Matrix 2,584 2,016 28.2%
Light Trucks:
- Ford F-Series 7,186 58.7%
- Dodge Caravan 3,631 22.5%
- GMC Sierra 3,432 3.5%
- Ford Escape 3,282 19.4%
- Chevrolet Silverado 3,142 -2.8%
Manufacturers with a model in the Top 10 Cars: Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota (no Chrysler or GM products)
Manufacturers with a model in the Top 10 trucks: Chyrsler, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Toyota
Manufacturers with hits in both segments: Ford, Hyundai, Toyota