Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Canada Auto Sales News And Notes - August 2010

The Good Car Guy has finished painting the August 2010 auto sales picture for Canada. These are a few additional notes you'll be interested in reading.

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Ford Canada has sold 1519 Transit Connect vans through the end of August 2010. That's 447 more sales than Ford has put up with the Expedition. August 2010 sales of the Ford Expedition were down 54.4%.

Hated by GoodCarBadCar.net and labelled as a member of The Bad 8 Supersize, the Mercedes-Benz R-Class remains unpopular.... but growing in popularity. August 2010 sales jumped to 44 from 9 in August 2009. Year-to-date, R-class sales are up 50.6% to 244.

Buick's renaissance has been fuelled by product, right? Year-to-date Buick sales in Canada are up 26%. The Lucerne, however, is by no means new product. But as Buick's reputation improves, Lucerne sales are climbing, too. Through eight months of 2009 Lucerne sales stood at 1163. This year, eight months have produced 1619 sales.

The Chevrolet TrailBlazer and GMC Envoy appear to be firmly gone and done with. Combined, the two inline-six powered General Motors SUVs have 17 sales this year. August 2010 accounted for none of those; July 2010 was host to sales of one TrailBlazer and two Envoys. 

Not mentioned in the Minivan Sales for August 2010 was the Hyundai Entourage. Hyundai actually sold five such vans last month. Nissan sold one Quest, as well, and has sold 19 so far this year. The cancelled Entourage has a year-to-date total of 72. Chevrolet has sold 30 Uplanders in Canada in 2010 (none in August), GM also sold 56 Montana SV6s through defunct Pontiac.

Trucks aren't a huge topic of concern at GoodCarBadCar.net, other than monthly rundowns of the Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks. Suzuki Equator sales  were 99 in August 2010 (up from 26 in August 2009) and are down 37% for the year. 231 Nissan Frontiers were sold in August, bumping the year-to-date figure up to 1259. Nissan Titan sales stand at 1199 for the year, 252 in August 2010. Toyota Tundra sales have reached 5310 for the year (up 10.8%) but were down to 583 in August from 601. Toyota Tacoma sales are down slightly for the year and were down 12 units to 510 in August 2010. The Mazda B-Series grabbed 156 buyers in August, an improvement over the 110 sales in August 2009. Year-to-date B-Series sales are up slightly to 1358. Finally, Dodge Dakota sales rose from 232 in August 2009 to 373 last month but are down 38.7% year-to-date.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - August 2010
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In Canada - August 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In Canada - August 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - August 2010
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Small SUV Sales And Small Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - August 2010

Ford watched the Escape post a year-over-year 12% sales drop in August, but the Escape - particularly with its Mazda Tribute platform-mate - remained the easiest ticket to large sales volume. 2989 Escape sales and 392 Tribute sales made the duo Canada's favourite small SUV by a margin of 731 units over the Hyundai Santa Fe. Of course, combining the Hyundai Santa Fe with its long-lost sibling, the Kia Sorento, would push that duo's sales total up to 3467. 

Supplying dealers with the 2011 Kia Sportage hasn't been easy for Korea's fast-growing sub-Hyundai automaker. Compared with August 2009, Sportage sales in Canada are actually down 20%. U.S. Sportage sales fell 55% in August. Expect to see a significant rise in sales of the 2011 model in the very near future, possibly even to the point of overtaking the Hyundai Tucson.

Every small luxury utility vehicle other than the Acura RDX and Land Rover LR2 increased sales volume last month when compared with August 2009. Mercedes-Benz GLK sales were up 44.8%; Audi Q5 and Infiniti EX35 sales were up nearly that much; and Cadillac SRX sales were up an astounding 2279%. No matter what you may say about the low-volume, unappealing nature of the first-generation SRX, the smaller and more attractive second-gen SRX has been a hit.
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Monday, September 27, 2010

Midsize SUV Sales And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - August 2010

The distinctive front end of the 2011 Ford Edge is becoming increasingly common on Canadian roads late this September. Before the 2011 Edge became so popular, the 2010 Ford Edge was (and is) available with attractive discounts. Good deals on a decent vehicle produce strong Sales Stats. Ford Edge sales increased 45% in August 2010. For the year, Edge sales are up 31%. The Edge is Ford Canada's sixth-best-selling vehicle. 

Combined, General Motors' three Lambda-platform crossovers out-sold the Edge.... by four units. Chevrolet Traverse sales were up 161% to 621; GMC Acadia sales rose 80% to 402; Buick Enclave sales rose 46.7% to 352. 

News at Toyota wasn't so great. Though 4Runner sales increased from August 2009's total of 40 to 179, sales of the once-popular Highlander plummeted from 519 to 257. August sales of the Toyota Highlander were level from 2008 to 2009 but were as high as 644 in August 2007. Perhaps the tide will turn for Japan's largest automaker once the 2011 Toyota Highlander starts making appearances at dealers across North America.

All that said, Toyota's luxury Highlander equivalent, the Lexus RX, remained the best-selling midsize luxury SUV in Canada in August. On the other side of that ledger is a note that says RX sales suffered greatly in August; down 24% from August 2009. At least Lexus hangs on to that best-seller title. Volkswagen Touareg sales went from a low 77 last August to a very, very low of 18 in August 2010.

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Large SUV Sales And Large Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - August 2010

How does one go about explaining GM Canada's 805% year-over-year monthly sales increase of the GMC Yukon, or the Yukon's 286% jump from one month prior? Twitter has yet to answer, and The Good Car Guy readily admits that the only obvious possibility would be discounts of epic proportions. Even then, how did General Motors find an extra 500 people to enter the showroom, people who wanted to consider the purchase of a 2010 GMC Yukon? This isn't like finding 500 more Camry buyers in the United States. General Motors Canada sold a total of 354 large SUVs in July. The total mainstream large SUV market in July was barely larger than the GMC Yukon's August sales total. Unprecedented stuff, friends. Unprecedented.

As for large luxury SUVs, sales increases were the name of the game. Cadillac's Escalade posted an 18.6% jump over August of 2009. Lincoln Navigator sales were off by three units in August but are up 56% year-to-date. The brand new $73,000 2011 Infiniti QX56 helped Nissan's luxury brand realize gains of 163% in the large luxury SUV category. Range Rover sales leapt forward at a rate 62% up on August 2009's sales pace. Year-to-date, sales of the Land Rover Range Rover are up 81.6%. At Lexus, the GX460 posted a 30% improvement and at Mercedes-Benz, the combined efforts of the classic but low-volume G-Wagen and the popular GL-Class have resulted in a 33.4% year-to-date improvement. August 2010 results were down slightly. Only the Lexus LX570 is truly struggling to find traction in 2010. August sales were down from 24 in 2009 to 15 this year. Year-to-date volume of the Lexus LX570 is off by nerly 40%.

Details on actual sales figures are in the Graphs below.
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Friday, September 24, 2010

Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales In Canada - August 2010

He who drives a 2011 Audi R8 5.2 likely has a great deal of opportunity to drive a Porsche 911 or even a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. He (or she) may even have another premium-priced sports car in their garage alongside the V10-engined Audi R8. Yet, for any one or ten of a million possible reasons, s/he decided to sign on the dotted line to take an R8 home. To the Toronto suburbs. 

In fact, 23 residents of Canada drove an Audi R8 off the lot in August 2010. Last August there were 32 R8s sold, but 23 isn't a bad number in light of the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class's 15-sale August. The SL-Class Benz has farther reaching appeal. It's always a convertible; always a coupe; available with a handful of different but always powerful engines. SL-Class sales were down in August 2010 and are down slightly year-to-date, as well. The same can be said for Porsche's 911. BMW 6-Series sales are way off last year's pace, down from 142 in the first eight months of 2009 to 45 so far in 2010. Nissan GT-R sales are about half what they were in 2009. Cadillac sold its first XLR of the year in August.

Blame the SL-Class's failings on the SLS AMG. Priced in the same stratosphere, the SLS AMG possesses dramatic gullwing doors and a driving experience meant to light a fire underneath the driver's seat. Mercedes-Benz Canada has already sold 77 SLS AMGs.

Among significantly less expensive machinery, German cars are still lusted after by many. As far as purchases and leases go, August 2010 wasn't a high-volume month for the Audi TT, BMW Z4, Mercedes-Benz SLK, Porsche Boxster, or Porsche Cayman. TT sales actually rose from 28 last August but are down year-to-date. Performance and comfort can be found in the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, a car buyers flocked to at a rate 8% up from August 2009.

Keep in mind, before analysing the details in the Graphs below, that Volkswagen GTI sales are new to this chart (as are the Honda CR-Z's) but GTI sales are lumped in with the Golf in other GCBC Sales Stats like the Best-Selling Cars list and Compact Car Sales Graph.
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Minivan Sales And Muscle Car Sales In Canada - August 2010

The Kia Rondo's struggles in the United States that Kia's given up on their miniature minivan in the American market. But minivan market share in Canada leans favourably in the Kia Rondo's direction. Through eight months of 2010, the Kia Rondo is only 321 unites behind the Mazda 5, but the trend line is sliding toward Kia. The Rondo beat the 5 in July after coming close in June and being slaughtered in May. It'll be a fight to the finish.

Further up the minivan scale, the Dodge Grand Caravan (and slow-selling Chrysler Town & Country) nearly out-sell all other minivans combined. If the Chrysler/Dodge duo's sales hadn't slid 23.1%, the two would have carved out a slice greater than half the pie. Both the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna posted huge improvements over August 2009's totals.

In the more exciting but less conspicuous muscle car segment, the Ford Mustang laid a beatdown on the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger in Canada in August 2010. Now that the 2011 Ford Mustang is fully on-stream at Ford Canada's dealerships, the Camaro has a much tougher fight on its hands. Chevrolet sold 44 fewer Camaros in Canada last month than in the same period of 2009; Ford Mustang sales jumped 17.2%. The Chevrolet Corvette and Dodge's Viper and Challenger all posted gains in August, as well.

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Niche Car Sales And Niche SUV And Truck Sales In Canada - August 2010

It's no longer appropriate to say there's an automotive sales war being waged between the Kia Soul and Nissan Cube. Clearly Kia's okay with allowing the Nissan Cube to live on - the Cube isn't dead (yet) - but the Soul has become such a fixture of the North American highway scene that it's been flirting with Best Selling Cars lists for the last few months. Sales of the 2010 Nissan Cube were down 64.2% in August. Sales of the 2010 Kia Soul jumped 9.3%. 

There are other vehicles for sale in Canada which aren't so easy to classify, either. At GoodCarBadCar.net, we call them Niche Cars, Niche SUVs, and Niche Trucks. They aren't necessarily incredibly unique, but they aren't direct competitors of vehicles mentioned in other Sales Stats Graphs. Apart from the Kia Soul, August wasn't a good month for these vehicles. 

Consider the hybrids from Toyota and Honda. Prius sales plummeted 73.8%; Insight sales rose by a meager 5 units to a paltry 66. Chevrolet HHR volume declines 30% from August 2009. The now defunct Chrysler PT Cruiser went from 102 sales last August to 2 sales in August 2010. Sales at BMW's Mini division fell 14.7%. Mercedes-Benz's smart car posted a 35.4% drop, slightly worse than the 34.7% drop in Volkswagen New Beetle volume.

Niche trucks and SUVs fared better in many cases. Jeep grabbed 1054 Wrangler customers in August 2010; up a fair bit from 491 in August 2009. The Toyota FJ Cruiser, Chevrolet Avalanche, Honda Ridgeline, and BMW X6 all sold at greater rates than in August 2009. Check the details in the Graphs below.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Large Car Sales And Large Luxury Car Sales In Canada - August 2010

As The Good Car Guy continues his wonderings on the lack of Buick Regal success in North America, the LaCrosse and Lucerne continue to do alright. "Alright" must be put in context, however. The much, much, much less expensive but similarly large Chevrolet Impala out-sold the whole Buick division in August 2010 in Canada. The story was the same south of the border.

On to less discounted cars, the... well, is anything large lacking incentivization in the latter part of 2010? The words "large", "car", and "Canada" go together about as effectively as the words "soccer", "World Cup", and "Canada". Discounts can't stem the tide at Chrysler. Sales of the 300 fell 83% in August in Canada. Dodge Charger sales dropped 34.8% last month in Canada. Nissan Maxima and Cadillac DTS sales dropped, too, but the Ford Taurus and Toyota Avalon posted improvements.

In the large luxury car segment, BMW's new 7-Series and the 2011 Audi A8 conquered their most direct rival, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Mercedes, however, continues to hold the large luxury car lead year-to-date in Canada, even if CL-Class sales are paired with the S-Class here. Jaguar XK sales rose 136% compared with August 2009 levels, but the XK was only Jaguar/Land Rover's fifth most popular nameplate in Canada last month.

Details on Canadian sales of the whole large car collection are in the Graph below.
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Midsize Car Sales And Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - August 2010

Talk was last month that the 2011 Buick Regal hadn't yet caught on. That story is still the same. Buick Regal sales in August were actually lower than the total put up by the Regal in July.

Another story in July's equivalent post of this type was the Cadillac STS being out-sold by the Acura RL. Cadillac escaped from that danger in August when GM Canada sold its second STS. Yes indeed, Acura RL sales fell 92.3% to a grand total of 1. Uno. Un. Eins. 

GoodCarBadCar.net also discussed the Mitsubishi Galant last month. Galant sales rose from their July total but fell 42.1% compared with August 2009. And the Lincoln MKS/Hyundai Genesis sedan comparison from July 2010? Well, MKS sales fell from August 2009's 110, but Genesis sales fell 39.6% to 55. August 2010's trophy goes to Lincoln.

To be more correct, August 2010's trophy for midsize luxury car sales success goes to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, as always. But congratulations are in order for Hyundai, too. Sales of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata jumped 164%, surpassing even the combined total of Toyota's Camry and Venza. Just wait for the Sonata Hybrid and Sonata Turbo to set sail. 

Details on midsize luxury car sales and mainstream midsize car sales are in the Graphs below.
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Compact Luxury Car Sales And Small/Entry Luxury Car Sales In Canada - August 2010

BMW doesn't just sell more 3-Series sedans, coupes, and wagons than any other luxury automaker; BMW sells a lot more 3-Series luxury cars than any other luxury automaker. There have been months over the course of 2010 in which Mercedes-Benz put up a challenge with the C-Class. But then there have been months like August 2010, a month in which Mercedes-Benz would have needed BMW 3-Series sales to suffer a 63% drop just to match up. 

Not. Gonna. Happen. BMW 3-Series sales actually jumped 11% from August 2009's totals. Mercedes-Benz C-Class sales fell 24.2% from August 2009 levels. The next closest rival, Audi's A4, posted a 26.6% increase but was found 890 units behind the almighty BMW.

Among smaller luxury cars, BMW's lead isn't so vast. Yet overtaking the BMW 1-Series wouldn't be nearly as exciting. (Read: "B-Class, Mercedes-Benz" in the Graph below.) The volume put up by Compact Luxury Cars in both Canada and the USA barely shows up on the monthly Sales Stats roundup. Meanwhile, The Good Car Guy published an article this morning listing Britain's Top 10 Best-Selling Cars from August 2010, and the Audi A3 was in tenth spot. GoodCarBadCar.net is an official fan of the A3. But.... whaaaaa? The A3's slice of the car market in Canada in August was 100 of 62,122. Even the far more successful BMW 1-Series (with sales falling 23% in August) barely incubates recognition in Canada. 

However you interpret luxury car sales in Canada, base your interpretations on the details from the Graphs below.
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Subcompact Car Sales And Compact Car Sales In Canada - August 2010

Lacking in safety features and aging faster than Liza Minnelli, the Hyundai Accent still has no trouble out-selling its direct rivals, including the all-new to North America 2011 Ford Fiesta. Dealers say they could sell more Fiestas if only they had more to sell, but could Ford Canada have sold an extra 1766 in August to unseat the Accent? Doubtful. Ford surely isn't worried. The average Fiesta transaction price is certainly thousands higher than what Hyundai's getting for the Accent.

Hyundai isn't struggling in the larger segments, either. The 2011 Sonata was the only non-small car to place in Canada's Top 10 Best-Selling Cars list and the Elantra finished ahead of the Toyota Corolla, as well. Keep this in mind: if Toyota called the Matrix the "Corolla Touring" you wouldn't even see the split in Corolla/Matrix sales (joined in the Graph below, separated for Canada Best Sellers lists, always joined for U.S. Sales Stats). And if Hyundai called the Elantra Touring by some other name, the two cars wouldn't be joined and the Elantra sedan would have only possessed 2350 sales in August 2010 in Canada. 


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Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - August 2010

At the same time Ford is struggling to get the new 2011 Fiesta to North American dealerships, the little Ford holds onto its crown as the best-selling car in the United Kingdom. Across The Pond, Best Sellers lists are completely different. Only two cars which appear on either of GCBC's two best selling cars lists (Canada and the USA) are seen in the group below. One of them is the same in name only. The other is a success in Canada but not even close to being popular in the USA. 

We're talking about the Ford Focus - Europe's Focus has moved on from our anitiquated model - and the Volkswagen Golf. Luxury nameplates are prevelant on the UK's best-selling cars list. Of course, this doesn't mean the cars sold are hugely expensive. In the UK and across Europe, you can purchase BMWs and Audis and Volvos with smaller engines and less equipment and pay only for the potential snobbery. Also, "cars" has a slightly different meaning. These are the UK's best-selling vehicles. There's no potential for pickup trucks or jumbo SUVs to crack the Top 10, so the fact that a crossover wends its way into the best-selling cars list is something you'll just have to accept without complaints for a Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs/CUVs In The UK Graph.

A couple more things before you scroll down to the list. Pessismists among us teach that, "Promises made are promises broken". The Good Car Guy, therefore, won't promise that you'll be able to see Best Sellers lists for other countries on a monthly basis, but efforts will be made. Second, if you know of Sales Stats data which can be mined for countries you'd like to see displayed, use the Contact button in the top right of this screen to send The Good Car Guy a link.

And now, the Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK, Britain's most popular cars in August 2010. Remember, August 2010 sales were down 17.5% in the UK, and it's not as though new car registrations in August 2009 were anything more than decent. Pictures of all ten cars are in the slideshow below.

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#10 - Audi A3: 1037
In August, the much larger U.S. car market purchased 564 Audi A3s. Of 62,122 cars sold in Canada in August 2010, only 100 were Audi A3s. Obviously Britons understand the Volkswagen Golf-based A3 better.

#9 - Volkswagen Polo: 1193
Volkswagen long ago gave up on this segment in North America, but the Polo and its platform-mates from Skoda (Fabia), Audi (A1) and Seat (Ibiza) are proof that Volkswagen knows Europeans love subcompacts. Plus, Volkswagen should be sending the Polo our way in the near future.

#8 - Vauxhall Insignia: 1193
Delivered to North America as the 2011 Buick Regal, the Insignia ushered in a new era of stylish large Vauxhalls (and Opels in the rest of Europe). Competitors include the handsome Ford Mondeo and once-ubiquitous Volkswagen Passat.

#7 - Nissan Qashqai: 1456
Related to the Nissan Rogue but not identical, the Qashqai was introduced with Nissan thinking it had the potential to invade the traditional hatchback C-segment. Nissan's thinking was obviously on the mark. You don't see a typical Toyota or Honda or even Nissan "car" on this list, do you? 

#6 - Volkswagen Golf: 1511
The Golf is Volkswagen's global juggernaut. In our neck of the woods, the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta is grabbing all sorts of attention for its enlarged cabin and lower price. In the United Kingdom, the Golf is as common a choice as strawberries and cream at Wimbledon.

#5 - BMW 3-Series: 1600
Generally among America's top 20 best-selling cars (but not the Top 10), the 3-Series competes directly with a vastly larger fleet of competitors in the UK. There, the 3-Series can be had with as little as 116 horsepower and pricing around £16,000 less than the 335d.

#4 - Vauxhall Corsa: 1629
The Vauxhall Corsa is GM's equivalent to the Chevrolet Aveo. Except, well, the Corsa is light years ahead of the Aveo in every meaningful and measurable way.

#3 - Vauxhaull Astra: 1906
To get a handle on the Astra's segment, think of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. And no, this isn't the same car as the Saturn Astra North America was offered for a couple years. This is the next-generation of that car; better in every way.

#2 - Ford Focus: 1926
Still not available in North America after having gone through complete transformations and facelifts in Europe, the Focus's greatest claim to fame isn't its #2 spot on this list but its victory over GM's Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf.

#1 - Ford Fiesta: 2660
Long a popular car in Europe, the current Fiesta is an easy sell in the UK as a result of its ability to combine a grown-up driving experience with fun and frugality.




Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - October 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - September 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - August 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - August 2010
Complete August 2010 Car Sales Picture In America
Ford Focus RS500 Gallery
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - September 2010
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