Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - January 2012

After ending 2011 as the best-selling car in Canada for the fourteenth consecutive year, the Honda Civic began 2012 with a January victory. And it wasn't a narrow victory, no, not at all. The Civic was more than twice as popular as the next-best-selling car. You get that? The leader, Honda's Civic sedan and coupe, sold more often than the second and third-ranked cars combined.

In January 2011, the best-selling car in Canada was the Hyundai Elantra. It was hard to maintain that momentum, having stolen market share from all sorts of compact cars which are now fighting back. Elantra sales slid 9.2% from 2643 last year at this time. 20% of the Elantras sold in Canada in January were Elantra Tourings as sales of the 5-door Elantra jumped 21.3% at the end of its lifecycle. That number, 20%, may rise further before it falls (and eventually rises again with the introduction of the handsome new Elantra GT, pictured above) as deals on the outgoing wagonesque Tourings inspire new car buyers to opt for 7-year interest-free payment plans, but this depends more on inventory than desire.

Canada's seven most popular cars are direct rivals. You could include the spacious and well-equipped Hyundai Accent in the mix and say Canada's eight most popular cars are rivals. Only until you get to the ninth-ranked car, Toyota's midsize Camry, do we arrive at a distinctly different segment. The Camry beat 2011's top-selling midsize car, the Ford Fusion, by 322 units, with three competitors between them.

With a tie for 19th spot, readers may be curious to discover which car finished in 21st position. That would be the Kia Rio, a Good 12 winner. Rio sales shot up 93% to 641, 22 units ahead of the Chrysler 200.

Monthly and yearly sales figures for all these models and every other nameplate currently offered for sale in North America will be made available through the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. Links to relevant best seller lists can be accessed at the bottom of this post. For now, it's your duty and honour to peruse the list of Canada's 20 best-selling cars in January 2012.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	January 2012	% Change
#1	Honda Civic	4928	+ 334%
#2	Hyundai Elantra	2399	- 9.2%
#3	Toyota Corolla	2337	+ 8.9%
#4	Mazda 3	1912	+ 13.2%
#5	Chevrolet Cruze	1619	+ 10.1%
#6	Volkswagen Jetta	1513	+ 2.9%
#7	Ford Focus	1374	+ 7.5%
#8	Hyundai Accent	1329	+ 52.9%
#9	Toyota Camry	1007	+ 169%
#10	Subaru Impreza	915	+ 71.0%
#11	Nissan Altima	863	+ 8.3%
#12	Toyota Venza	791	+ 33.2%
#13	Toyota Matrix	741	- 45.5%
#14	Nissan Sentra	706	+ 70.1%
#15	Hyundai Sonata	702	+ 6.2%
#16	BMW 3-Series	700	+ 58.0%
#17	Ford Fusion	685	+ 12.1%
#18	Dodge Charger	670	+ 316%
T19	Nissan Versa	655	+ 7.7%
T19	Volkswagen Golf	655	- 14.8%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

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