Monday, January 31, 2011

2010 Truck Sales Figures In USA And Canada

Links to the Best-Selling Truck lists for 2010 are below. This is a new type of post for GoodCarBadCar.net, one that's long overdue and sure to continue.

On a monthly basis, Canadian and U.S. Truck Sales charts won't be displayed together. But as a preview of what's to come, it's interesting to see the strength of the Canadian truck market relative to the size of the overall new vehicle market in Canada's ten provinces and three territories. Take the Ford F-Series as an example. In the U.S. market in 2010, the F-Series formed 4.6% of all sales versus 6.3% of the overall Canadian market. Overall pickup truck sales accounted for 14.1% of all U.S. new vehicle sales in 2010 but an astounding 19.1% of all new vehicle sales in Canada. 

More fun facts: if Ford Canada can increase F-Series sales by just 2.2% they'll have a 100,000 unit vehicle. If General Motors can find 28,420 conquest sales at the expense of Ford, the Silverado and Sierra will combine to be America's best-seller in 2011. And Mazda Canada dealers can throw themselves a party for beating their Mazda USA partners (who weren't exactly competing) since they sold 254 B-Series pickups for every Mazda truck sold in America.

Porsche Canada 2010 Sales Figures

It seems like ages since GoodCarBadCar.net did a traditional Numbers post on any subject. "Recent" editions examined One Year With A Smart Fortwo and GM's Chevrolet Infusion In Korea. For this, a brief return to GCBC Numbers styles posting, a look at Porsche Canada's 2010 sales figures sounds like fun. 2010 was a record year for Porsche Cars Canada. 2036 Porsche vehicles found owners in the year ending on New Year's Eve, up 21% from 2009 levels. Porsche Cars Canada's previous record year was 2007 when 1987 vehicles were sold. The figures below all relate to 2010 calendar year sales in Canada unless otherwise noted.

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239.5 - percentage year-over-year increase in Porsche Panamera sales, although Porsche didn't have a full year of selling the Panamera in 2009 so growing the previous year's 114 sales wasn't a challenge.

16.9 - percentage year-over-year increase in Porsche Cayenne sales, thanks in no small part to the introduction of a better-looking second-generation Cayenne partway through 2010.

6.1 - percentage year-over-year increase in Porsche 911 sales, with growth coming from high-end models like the 911 GT3 RS.

22.7 - percentage year-over-year decrease in Porsche Cayman sales as two special editions disappeared and sales of the base Cayman and Cayman S fell 13.8% and 20.7% respectively.

20.2 - percentage year-over-year decrease in Porsche Boxster sales despite an additional 35 sales coming from the gorgeous Boxster Spyder.

21.1 - portion of overall Porsche Boxster sales, measured in percent, made up by the Porsche Boxster Spyder.

58 - portion of overall Porsche Cayman sales, measured in percent, made up by the Porsche Cayman S.

2.3 - portion of overall Porsche Cayenne sales, measured in percent, made up by the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid.

21.4 - portion of overall Porsche Panamera sales, measured in percent, made up by the Porsche Panamera Turbo.

4.4 - portion of overall Porsche 911 sales, measured in percent, made up by the basic Porsche 911 Carrera.

74.2 - percentage of overall Porsche Cars Canada sales not attributed to its most famous model, the 911.

84.6 - percentage of overall Porsche Cars Canada sales not attributed to its most famous model in December 2010.

173 - total Porsche 911 Cabriolet models sold in 2010, with the biggest convertible seller being the 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet. 23 Targas were also sold in 2010.

118 - total Porsche Cayenne Turbo sales in 2010, 10 of which were of the Turbo S variety.

7 - total sales of the most basic Porsche Panamera, a car with an $86,600 pricetag.

279,500 - Canadian dollar MSRP of the 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, one of which was sold in Canada in 2010. Not a single non-RS 911 GT2 was sold in 2010.

308 - total 911s sold in Canada in 2010 which were fitted with all-wheel drive.

54,900 - Canadian dollar MSRP of the least-expensive Porsche available, the basic 2011 Porsche Boxster, a vehicle which made up 3.5% of all Porsche Cars Canada sales in 2010.

0.39 - percentage of overall Porsche Cars Canada sales garnered by the Porsche Cayenne Transsbyeria in 2010.

330 - total sales of Porsche's best-selling specific model in 2010, the Porsche Cayenne S.


Related From GoodCarBadCar.net

Is The 2011 Subaru Outback An SUV?

Issue after Everest-related issue arises in Jon Krakauer's book, Into Thin Air. Whether it be a brief history of Sherpas, a play-by-play of every village passed by on the trek to Base Camp, or a look at the long overdue rise of environmentalism at the foot of the world's tallest mountain, Krakauer engages the reader with the sort of anticipation one would expect from a man who viewed all this in the context of a soon-coming climb up Mount Everest. Yet one matter which winds a path through many pages of Into Thin Air is that of the qualifications, experience, health, and even morality of the hundreds of mountaineers (or supposed mountaineers) who were attempting to reach the summit of Everest in the spring of 1996.

It is Krakauer who points out amidst an attempt to resolve such a controversy that, "The question of who belongs on Everest and who doesn't is more complicated than it might first appear." Krakauer indicates a number of factors which, by themselves, should not (and could not) shun a climber from the mountain: wealth, expedition affiliation, age, and previous altitude acclimatization. At the same time, Into Thin Air's wildly accomplished author suggests a lack of experience and a willful disregard for safety are reasons to avoid guiding a hopeful climber up the harrowing, intimidating peak. And at no point does Krakauer ever suggest he has all the answers to issues so complicated that regulations have gone unregulated for decades and self-policing expeditions have gone un-policed.

True, the Subaru Outback is not a climber attempting to reach the summit of an iconic mountain. You've got a point there. But stick with me after the jump and you'll understand the parallels.

For a good portion of its lifespan, certainly in its initial two generations, the Subaru Outback was simply considered a slightly taller Legacy wagon with some SUVesque lower body cladding. Many other automakers hopped on the bandwagon, most notably Audi's A6 Allroad (still available elsewhere) and Volvo's much-loved XC70 Cross Country. Europeans have been offered some less attractive propositions including the Volkswagen CrossGolf and Skoda Octavia Scout. Generally speaking, these up-armoured vehicles are simply wagons or hatchbacks with extra ground clearance and consequently greater height as well as bodywork which would supposedly protect bumpers from challenging elements on an off-road course. Indeed, many of the donor vehicles are excellent in their own right but in "SUV" form lose much of their appeal once on-road dynamics are taken into account.

The 2011 Subaru Outback, however, is doing anything but losing its appeal. Credited with paving the way for Subaru to become a mainstream automaker in North America, the first Outbacks can't be credited with doing a whole lot more than a garden-variety Legacy wagon could. Both featured all-wheel drive, the same engines, and the same interiors. One could crawl a slightly higher curb. Consumers didn't care - they wanted the Outback, so much so that the most recently-introduced Outback up and committed flagrant fratricide. The Subaru Legacy wagon is not a member of Subaru's Canadian or American lineups.

Still, it seems as though the question is being avoided. Is The Subaru Outback An SUV? Well, what is an SUV?

Sport-utility vehicle is, to be frank, a term which means absolutely nothing. "Sport".... like, er, basketball? Auto racing? Nah, people don't race Chevrolet Tahoes. And they only play sports in cars on Top Gear. Utility? One hopes for some form of extra practicality in sport-utes, but often, the case could be made that Grandpa's Country Squire was more utilitarian. Vehicle? Uh, yeah: they're all vehicles.

The term, therefore, clarifies nothing. Cultural definitions only go so far. The Good Car Sister, in place of SUV, prefers jeep, small j. Don't ask how she's managed to stick with such ridiculousness when such a knowledgeable brother exists. Crossover or CUV, as in crossover utility vehicle, have moved in as noms du jour for vehicles as unique as Acura's ZDX and the Chevrolet Traverse. Crossing over, like Shania Twain playing on pop radio stations in 2002, is a strange way of defining a specific format of vehicles which are basically tall hatchbacks with all-wheel drive. Nevertheless, no matter the coinage, we aren't making any progress in determining how the Subaru Outback's qualifications align with the stars. Let's look at the vehicle itself.

Motor Trend awarded the 2010 Subaru Outback its coveted SUV Of The Year title. Although the decision sound strange at first, Motor Trend didn't shy away from the obvious argument, that the Outback wasn't an SUV. The Outback had greater ground clearance than the Jeep Grand Cherokee; it's just six inches shy of being six-feet tall; three unique all-wheel drive variations are available; towing capacity is 3000 pounds. Plus, when perching one wheel on a rock in icy blue with grey cladding, the Outback looks like an SUV.

But c'mon, the Outback is just a jacked up Legacy wagon - which still exists, remember - and the Legacy wagon is, you may remember, a wagon version of the Subaru Legacy, a car. C-A-R. Two degrees of separation does not an SUV make.... or does it? Countless SUVs or crossovers or CUVs available today use platforms or architecture or core elements provided by cars. Was there something so tough about the Chevrolet Equinox that you thought it was, ahem, a genuine Jeep Wrangler rival? Did you plan on taking your new Honda CR-V on the Rubicon Trail? What about your rich cousin's BMW X5 and its snobbish BMW-only sport-activity vehicle designation. You're wanting to drive down PEI's red dirt roads in that?

Why don't we just rephrase the title of this article? See, Subaru's U.S. website thinks the Outback is not an SUV. Subaru reserves the SUV heading for Tribecas and Foresters. Moreover, Subaru has been calling the Outback something else since it was first introduced back in 1996.

Granted, for anyone who's seen an AMC Eagle, there's falsehood in Subaru's labelling of the Outback as the "World's First Sport Utility Wagon." However, Subaru is allowed to showcase the ® symbol when using the aforementioned five word set. American Motors didn't put up much of a fight.

Thus, as you would have already guessed from GoodCarBadCar.net's constant inclusion of the Outback in midsize car sales charts, the Outback isn't believed to be an SUV, not around these parts. Subaru was quite accurate in its initial designation, so let's stick with it. 

No, the Subaru Outback is not an SUV. The 2011 Subaru Outback is an SUW.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Midsize Car Sales In America - 2010 Year End
Midsize Car Sales In Canada - 2010 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Japanese Cars In America - November 2010

Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air introduction begins like this:
In March 1996, Outside magazine sent me to Nepal to participate in, and write about, a guided ascent of Mount Everest. I went as one of eight clients of an expedition led by a well-known guide from New Zealand named Rob Hall. On May 10 I arrived on top of the mountain, but the summit came at a terrible cost. Among my five teammates who reached the top, four, including Hall, perished in a rogue storm that blew in without warning while we were still high on the peak. By the time I'd descended to Base Camp nine climbers from four expeditions were dead, and three more lives would be lost before the month was out. 
Friday, January 28, 2011

Best-Selling Vehicle Trends In Canada: 2004 - 2010

Rather than enter in to some great exposition on what the Graph below means, today it's your turn to analyse and observe. What you're looking at is a chart depicting the Canadian sales trends over the last seven years of 2010's best-selling truck, best-selling car, best-selling luxury car, best-selling minivan, and best-selling SUV. From left to right, with each model, you're seeing the yearly totals from 2004 through 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. 


There have been peaks and valleys. Large fluctuations in the overall Canadian new vehicle market have resulted in huge swings for Canada's most popular vehicles. This chart lays puts much of the pertinent information on the table. 

The 15 Worst-Selling Vehicles In Canada In 2010

In the slightly rejigged and not-so-immortal words from GoodCarBadCar.net's list of America's 15 Worst-Selling Cars, "For the sake of humour and remembrance - and because these vehicles haven't been discussed on GoodCarBadCar.net for ages - the 15 Worst-Selling Cars In Canada in 2010 include dead or mostly dead vehicles. They are either out of production, soon to be out of production, or not a part of the Canadian new vehicle market any longer." 

Pontiac sales in Canada didn't completely disappear in 2010. In fact, sales fell "just" 86.3% to 6801, 15 of which came in December. Saturn's situation was a bit worse as total 2010 sales fell 99.9% from 2009 to 11, none of which came from the final month of the year. Hummer's sales figures were abysmal in 2009 and couldn't get much worse. Falling 66%, Hummer's total dropped to 168 and GoodCarBadCar.net skipped over the H2's two sales in this table because Worst Seller lists are intended to skip over true luxury items.  That said, the Honda S2000 was a $50K+ vehicle in Canada.

Anyway, this list is no means an official rundown of anything meaningful, but it does give us an opportunity to see how the 2011 Dodge Durango's percentage change numbers will be wonderfully flattering.

Rank
Car
2010
% Drop
#1
Pontiac G8
1
-93.8
#2
Saturn Outlook
1
-99.9
#3
Saturn Astra
2
-99.9
#4
Hyundai Tiburon
2
-99.8
#5
Hyundai Azera
3
-98.3
#6
Dodge Durango
6
-93.8
#7
Chevrolet TrailBlazer
7
-97.2
#8
Ford Taurus X
8
-99.1
#9
Saturn Vue
8
-99.7
#10
GMC Envoy
13
-94.2
#11
Chrysler Aspen
15
-96.4
#12
Pontiac Torrent
16
-99.7
#13
Nissan Quest
20
-95
#14
Honda S2000
21
-57
#15
Chevrolet Uplander
30
-99.7

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In Canada - 2011 Year End
The 10 Worst-Selling Cars In Canada - March 2010
Top 15 Worst-Selling Vehicles In America - 2010 Year End
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - 2010 Year End

Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada - 2010 Year End

For a list such as this to be meaningful, certain qualifications must be installed beforehand. "Luxury vehicle" can mean just about anything in marketing literature, but for an aware readership, GoodCarBadCar.net has slightly higher standards than simply any car available with leather-lined seats. Premium badges, therefore, are mandatory.... with a handful of exceptions. Because of the Chevrolet Corvette's premium pricing, it could be considered a luxury vehicle. (Before you check, it's not among Canada's 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles.) 

Can the opposite be true? Is a rebadged, up-contented Honda Civic like the Acura CSX, a $24,290 car, really a luxury vehicle? It's hard to say. So, for those who disagree with its inclusion as Canada's 25th best-selling luxury vehicle, or for those who don't like the Hyundai Genesis's presence here, there are a couple of stand-ins you should be aware of. The taxi squad, as it'll be called, includes the Audi A3 (1322 sales in 2010, up 6.2%), Volvo XC90 (1194, down 18%), Volvo's XC70/V70 pair (1220, down 14.5%), and the Audi Q7 (1247, up 8.8%). How 'bout we add the Cadillac Escalade to the rundown (1181, up 47.4%) and the Land Rover Range Rover Sport (1168, up 39.5%) as honourable mentions? That way, consumers who refuse to consider the Mercedes-Benz B-Class a luxury vehicle can see which cars would take its place.

Speaking of the Hyundai Genesis, Hyundai Canada says 3113 of its overall Genesis sales tally can be attributed to the Genesis Coupe, leaving just 811 of the truly luxurious Genesis sedans. Strange bed-brothers: BMW Canada lists the 323i's base price at $37,650; the Hyundai Genesis 3.8 is priced from $38,999. Could the C-Class Benz be numero uno? There's a coupe coming, but the C-Class goes to bat with just one bodystyle - BMW's 3-Series has four. Is bigger better? Not quite, 13 of the country's 30 most popular luxury vehicles are SUV/crossover/CUVs. Of the 30 vehicles listed below, 14 are German-derived. One is Korean, one is Swedish, four are American, the other ten are Japanese.

Rank
Luxury Vehicle
2010
2009
#1
BMW 3-Series
14,009
12,610
#2
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
8090
7317
#3
Lexus RX
7383
8828
#4
Acura MDX
5994
5994
#5
Mercedes-Benz GLK
5852
5012
#6
Audi A4
5211
4224
#7
Lincoln MKX
4458
2471
#8
Infiniti G
4408
3998
#9
BMW X5
4012
3410
#10
Hyundai Genesis
3924
3438
#11
Mercedes-Benz E & CLS-Class
3914
2819
#12
Mercedes-Benz M-Class
3871
3146
#13
Acura RDX
3163
2869
#14
Audi Q5
3060
1942
#15
Mercedes-Benz B-Class
2994
2865
#16
Cadillac CTS
2974
2488
#17
Cadillac SRX
2918
990
#18
Acura TL
2895
3577
#19
BMW X3
2840
2236
#20
Lexus ES
2688
2999
#21
BMW 5-Series
2382
1619
#22
Audi A5
2309
1520
#23
Acura TSX
2297
2020
#24
Lexus IS
2233
2617
#25
Acura CSX
2064
2526
#26
Infiniti EX
1925
1785
#27
BMW 1-Series
1764
2533
#28
Volvo XC60
1540
1211
#29
Lincoln MKZ
1493
1508
#30
Mercedes-Benz G & GL-Class
1437
1143

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada - 2011 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada - January 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - 2010 Year End
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In Canada - 2010 Year End
Canada New Vehicle Market Share By Brand - 2010 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2010 Year End
Thursday, January 27, 2011

Small Luxury SUV Sales And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - 2010 Year End

24,881 German luxury sport-utility vehicles were sold in Canada in 2010. That's up from 20,660 in 2009, a 20% bump that'd mean a whole lot more if not for the fact that just five years ago, only 9734 German luxury SUVs were sold in Canada. In other words, from 2005 to 2010, German luxury SUV sales increased 156% in Canada, a percentage change which is unlikely to repeat itself by 2015. These numbers include the Volkswagen Touareg, despite its proletarian badge, and the Mercedes-Benz G and GL-Class SUVs from the large luxury SUV segment not shown in the Graphs below.

It sounds strange to say as gas prices rise and jobless rates remain high that, if the U.S. auto industry wishes to compete in the premium category, they need to sell more.... Ess-You-Vees? Cadillac and Lincoln together only sold 10,023 sport-utes and crossovers in 2010, more than double 2009 levels; not a whole lot better than double 2005 levels. Granted, there are only two "domestic" brands competing compared with what feels like countless German companies: four-rings, propellers, three-pointed stars and the like.

There are specific battles being waged, whether automakers' Canadian outposts admit to acknowledging them or not, which form interesting sub-plots in the small and midsize luxury SUV segments. The Acura RDX smoked its Japanese compatriot, the Infiniti EX, by 1238 sales in 2010. BMW's X5 narrowly saw off the Mercedes-Benz M-Class despite an impressive December at Mercedes which accounted for more than 12.5% of the M-Class's yearly total. Though not directly price comparable, the Acura ZDX and BMW X6 are birds of a feather: BMW topped Acura after a late incentive-driven ZDX challenge. The Audi Q5 only just beat out the BMW X3, a feat which will be more difficult in 2011 when an accomplished new X3 makes the outgoing X3 look like... well, an old X3. Finally, Indian-owned Land Rover posted pleasant overall gains in 2010, a story which would perhaps have gone unwritten had the Range Rover Sport not succeeded with a 39.5% increase and a victory over Porsche's Cayenne.

Small Luxury SUV Sales And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - December 2010

There are plenty of new automobiles more popular in the United States than the Cadillac SRX, but in the luxury SUV world, the SRX resides at the top with Acura's MDX and the Lexus RX. Canadians, however, for whatever reason, have not taken to the new SRX with nearly as much fervour. In fact, Cadillac's somewhat more expensive cross-town rival, Lincoln's MKX, isn't far from being twice as sought after. Given the Lincoln MKX's status as a tarted-up Ford Edge, an immensely popular utility vehicle in Canada, this shouldn't be all that surprising.

For a few hundred dollars less than the 2011 Cadillac SRX, Mercedes-Benz Canada will sell you a basic rear-wheel drive GLK350. It is that vehicle that's grabbed hold of the hearts of Canada's small luxury SUV buyers, as the GLK out-sold the SRX by 208 units in December 2010. Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class sales were up 27.6% in the final month of 2010; SRX sales jumped 33.7%. Meanwhile, Acura had a strong #2 finish with the aging RDX but sales were actually down slightly from 337 in December 2009.

As for the aforementioned Lincoln MKX and its competitors, Mercedes-Benz was unusually strong as a 64.2% increase over December 2009 shot the M-Class up to top dog status last month. The 2011 Mercedes-Benz ML350 4Matic starts at $57,400, approximately $16,000 north of the GLK350. Acura MDX sales jumped 39.8% while Lexus faced a decline of 40.1%, a fact which didn't trouble the RX's year-end positioning atop the standings.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Midsize SUV Sales And Large SUV Sales In Canada - 2010 Year End

It's not just that the Ford Edge could beat the total efforts of three large, impressive, successful GM utility vehicles; nor is it the fact that Toyota and Honda and Nissan were beaten, too. No, what's most consequential is the turn Ford took, particularly once the 2011 Edge came on stream: sales were up 41.3% 2010. Also, Ford didn't barely beat General Motors, and the victory over Japanese mainstays like the Highlander, Pilot, and Murano was a good ol' fashioned whipping.

Rather than focus on the good news at Ford, why not have a look at the unsuccessful entrants in the midsize SUV category? It wasn't as though Subaru's Tribeca was ever chugging along nicely, but the latest Outback's success didn't spell well for Subaru's biggest vehicle. Tribeca sales fell 8.8% in 2010, a year in which the market grew 6.6%. For every Tribeca sold in Canada in 2010, Subaru sold 12 Outbacks and Ford sold nearly 32 Edges. How 'bout the Mitsubishi Endeavor? One would've thought sales of the Endeavor were about as low as could be in 2009. Only 545 were sold in Canada last year, after all. Yet sales dipped 30% even as Mitsubishi maintained a mostly level overall sales total.

Big SUVs present a different story from 2010. Of the eight listed in the Graph below, only one - the Kia Borrego - failed to improve on 2009's sales levels. Toyota Sequoia sales were up 14%. Nissan Armada sales were up 111%. Ford Expedition sales rose 5%. GM's foursome was up 50.5%. Even so, jumbo SUVs remain a niche market in Canada. Not a single one of the eight listed posted a figure which would find them among the ten best-selling midsize SUVs.