Canada Auto Sales By Brand - January 2012

The January 2012 edition of Canada's Auto Sales By Brand post got underway with reports from Ford of Canada and Chrysler Canada. Early signs suggested a strong showing by Canada's automobile industry in the first month of 2012 as not a single one of the first 20+ brands to report posted anything close to a less successful start to 2012 than there was in 2011.

The Chrysler brand's 204% year-over-year increase is most notable. Sales of the company's midsize 200 jumped to 619 in January. 44 of those sales can be attributed to the 200 Convertible. Why Canadians are buying convertibles in the dead of winter is a question that remains to be answered, but the real question relates to the subject at hand: why is anybody buying the Chrysler 200 Convertible, in particular?

That's off topic, of course. 45% of Blue Oval sales were F-Series pickup trucks. Ford's best-selling car was the Focus, sales of which reached 1374. After the F-Series, Ford's next-best-selling model was the Escape, 2209 of which found buyers in January 2012. Ford was the best-selling auto brand in Canada in January 2012, just as it was throughout 2011. Yes, as a brand, Ford was number one. But it was Chrysler Canada, with 7116 sales from Dodge, 321 from Fiat, and 9147 from three other brands, that ended January on top with 17.3% market share. Ford Canada's market share was 15.7%. General Motors ended January with 13.6% of the market, nearly 2.5 percentage points down from what GM accomplished in December.

Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, and Kia all recorded their best January ever. Subaru sold 787 Imprezas. Toyota Camry sales reached 1007. Nissan GT-R sales were up 400%. To five, in total. BMW's 35% year-over-year improvement came before the new Good 12-winning 3-Series sedan arrived at dealers.

Stay with us throughout the day for a look at the U.S. Auto Sales By Brand post and January's best-selling cars, trucks, and SUVs in America.

Updated 02.16.2012 @ 2:19 PM AST

Rank	Automaker	January 2012	%  Change
#1	Ford	14,621	+ 4.3%
#2	Toyota	9565	+ 17.2%
#3	Honda	8451	+ 144%
#4	Chevrolet	7992	- 10.1%
#5	Hyundai	7460	+ 11.6%
#6	Dodge	7116	+ 1.4%
#7	Nissan	4986	+ 24.4%
#8	Ram	4938	+ 26.5%
#9	GMC	3822	- 13.6%
#10	Kia	3774	+ 23.8%
#11	Mazda	3727	+ 1.1%
#12	Volkswagen	3109	+ 8.7%
#13	Jeep	2943	+ 31.0%
#14	Mercedes-Benz	1970	+ 32.9%
#15	Subaru	1876	+ 7.0%
#16	BMW	1644	+ 35.3%
#17	Audi	1501	+ 31.7%
#18	Mitsubishi	1423	+ 0.8%
#19	Chrysler	1266	+ 204%
#20	Lexus	810	+ 11.3%
#21	Buick	760	+ 3.5%
#22	Acura	717	+ 24.9%
#23	Cadillac	385	- 21.4%
#24	Infiniti	365	+ 10.6%
#25	Lincoln	352	+ 16.6%
#26	Volvo	340	- 14.4%
#27	Fiat	321	-----
#28	Land Rover	310	+ 79.2%
#29	Suzuki	303	- 26.6%
#30	Scion	285	+ 75.9%
#31	Mini	201	+ 27.2%
#32	smart	87	+ 6.1%
#33	Porsche	48	+ 20.0%
#34	Jaguar	33	+ 3.1%
#35	Maserati	7	+ 16.7%
#36	Saab	5	- 54.5%
#37	Bentley	4	+ 33.3%

Source: Automakers, Desrosiers & Automotive News Data Center
Red font indicates declining year-over-year sales, bold indicates a so-called premium brand
GCBC now lists Ram separately from Dodge, as Chrysler does

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Canada Auto Sales Brand Rankings - January 2013
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - February 2012
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - December 2011
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - January 2011
Canada Auto Brand Market Share - January 2012