New vehicle sales in Canada were generally lower than both the previous month and the same period last year. Passenger car sales were down just under four thousand units compared to September. The decline in passenger car sales was somewhat offset by the two thousand Tesla Model 3 sedans delivered to Canadian new car buyers.
Light truck sales declined by eight thousand and seven units compared to September 2018. Most of the decline was because of reduced deliveries by domestic auto makers. Ford trucks sales declined by over four thousand units, while Fiat Chrysler truck sales declined by over two thousand five hundred units. General Motors truck sales declined by just under one thousand five hundred units.
Overall sales at four of the top five selling manufacturers are down on a year to date basis with Fiat Chrysler suffering the steepest decline. Its sales are just over thirty thousand units lower than the same period last year. Ford and GM are both down a more modest amount of approximately 6500 units for Ford and just of 4200 units for General Motors. Honda sales are down just over one thousand units compared to the same period last year. Only Toyota has managed to grow sales during the first ten months of 2018, with sales being up 2081 units. All the gains made by Toyota have been in the light trick segment; with healthy increases in sales being registered by the RAV4, C-HR, Tacoma and the Tundra.
It remains to be seen if General Motors can deliver enough vehicles to overhaul Ford as the top selling manufacturer. At the end of October, the gap was 5463 units. It should also be noted that Toyota was only 4229 units behind Fiat Chrysler for third place.
New vehicle buyers should expect to see robust incentive offerings from any manufacturer who has sufficient supply of their top selling models.
Full details of the top ten selling vehicles in Canada are available at CarCostCanada.
