Canada Auto Sales Recap - October 2010

In October, Chrysler and Dodge combined to sell just 891 cars in Canada. Yes, Dodge and Jeep sales were up, but the eight cars of Fiat's North American arm was out-sold by the Ford division's six different car models by a rate of 5 to 1.

With November sales results just around the corner, a look at the sales success of luxury automakers in Canada becomes more interesting. BMW has sold 22,440 vehicles in Canada in the first ten months of 2010. Mercedes-Benz sold 24,082 in the same period. The total at Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus, is half that of Mercedes-Benz. Lincoln is ahead of Cadillac. Lamborghini Canada has sold 61 cars in 2010, up from 30 in 2009.

Among Ford's trucks, SUVs, and crossovers, only the Ford Flex and Ford Ranger (and the discontinued Ford Taurus X) have posted declining sales in 2010. Flex sales are off 2009's pace by 20.2%.

At the end of October 2009, General Motors had sold 16,304 copies of the Pontiac Torrent, GMC Terrain, and Chevrolet Equinox. As of October 31/2010, GM had sold 23,570 of those three vehicles. Terrain sales, as you would expect of a new vehicle, are up 996%. Equinox sales have jumped 62.5%. Sales of the defunct Torrent, it must be said, are down 99.7%.

Excluding the not-for-sale-in-2009 Acura ZDX, only two Acura models have posted sales increases in 2010. The TSX is up 1 - that's 1 unit - to 1756 through the end of October. RDX sales are up 5.6%. Overall, Acura's down 3.4%.

Kia's truck family, which includes the miniminivan Rondo, in addition to the Sportage, Sedona, Borrego and Sorento, was up 58.2% in October. Borrego sales were down, as were sales of the Rondo. Sedona sales climbed from 86 to 137. Sportage sales increased 33.4%. But the real winner, as has been the case for months, was the Sorento. The old Sorento was never the hottest of sellers, capable though it may have been. Contrasting the new model's sales with the old is like comparing the iPod and Zune. Sorento sales were up 3144% in October.

Is Jaguar back on track? Er, not yet. 2010 is ten months old; Jaguar sales in Canada are down 4.2%.

Will the Mazda 3 be Canada's best-selling car? Not this year. One thing's for sure: Mazda needs the 3. The 3 accounted for more than half of all Mazda sales in Canada in October and has been responsible for more than 60% of all Mazda Canada sales in 2010.

Here are some other greatly improved vehicles posting greatly improved sales as well as a few with distinctly downcast outlooks in October.

• Toyota 4Runner up 1114%
• Audi A8 up 1250%
• Volkswagen Touareg down 97.2%
• Suzuki Equator down 92.9%
• Lexus GX up 683%
• Toyota Prius down 70.7%
• Mitsubishi Endeavor up 256%
• Dodge Dakota down 84.6%
• Dodge Avenger down 91.6% 
• BMW 5-Series up 136%
• Cadillac STS down 72.7%
• Hummer H3 down 96.4%
• Mazda RX-8 down 85.5%
• Mazda B-Series up 495%

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Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - October 2010
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In Canada - October 2010
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Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales In Canada - October 2010

The Audi A5's ridiculous popularity in Canada - 33 times more popular than the BMW 6-Series in October; 7.6 times more popular than the also-gorgeous Audi TT in October - is well-deserved and only a bit surprising. Month after month the Audi A5/S5 duo puts up numbers high enough, to be Audi's second-best-selling car. Out-selling everything on the Graph below except for the 2011 Ford Mustang ain't an easy task for a car that starts at $46,200. Audi A5 sales are up 85.6% in 2010.

As for the disparaging remarks regarding the current BMW 6-Series, they should be given some context. A new 6-Series has already debuted. For most people, having seen the advent of the F12 2011 BMW 6-Series, the current car lacks appeal. Thus, sales are in free-fall, down 66% through the first ten months of 2010; down 50% in October 2010. This comes in a month in which Porsche 911 sales nearly doubled from October 2009 levels. It's worth noting that Nissan GT-R sales have been chopped in half. By the end of October 2009, Nissan had sold 122 GT-Rs in Canada. This year, that number has dropped to 59. Nissan GT-R sales in October 2010 were down 67%.

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Midsize Luxury Car Sales And Large Luxury Car Sales In Canada - October 2010

Is Hyundai on a roll? You better believe it. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata is a good-looking hit, the 2011 Hyundai Elantra will be a hit, and sales are up, up, up every month. In fact, the Hyundai division is out-selling the Honda division through the first ten months of 2010 by 1458 units. But the Genesis? Well, that's a different story.

Unlike the U.S. midsize luxury car sales chart which showcases the Hyundai Genesis and Hyundai Genesis Coupe as one unit, Hyundai separates the two in Canadian sales reports. (You can see the Genesis Coupe in Sporty Car Sales Graphs.) Lacking the Genesis Coupe's volume, the Hyundai Genesis sedan ranked below the Lincoln MKS, Infiniti M, and Audi A6, not to mention the popular midsize luxury cars from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Acura, and Lexus. Worse than ranking poorly is the fact that Hyundai Genesis sedan sales were down 53.6% from October 2009 and are down 15.2% on the year.

As of this point, Korea has no competitor for the large luxury car segment - and it's more likely that The Good Car Guy will place the 2011 Hyundai Equus in the midsize luxury car category with the Genesis - but there are four Germans, one Brit, and one Japanese car. Lexus LS sales are down 10% in 2010. Jaguar XJ sales are up 126% but still trail the LS's year-to-date total by 37. Audi A8 sales were up 1250% in October 2010 from a very lowly 2 A8s sold in October 2009. A8 sales are up 12.2% on the year, thanks mainly to October's gains. Porsche has very little of 2009 to compare this year's year-to-date sales with, but Panamera sales did rise 50% from September 2010. The long-standing limo rival between the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class went to BMW in October but Mercedes-Benz holds the Canadian lead for the calendar year so far, with a little help from the CL-Class. 7-Series sales in October were up; S-Class/CL-Class sales were down.

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Midsize Car Sales And Large Car Sales In Canada - October 2010

When the Toyota Camry joins up with anything to manifest the longest line on a Graph, you'd assume the Camry was making up the vast majority of those sales, right? Well, you'd be wrong. In Canada in October 2010, the Toyota Venza was responsible for 1169 of the pair's 1756 sales. 

The true best-selling midsize car in Canada in October was the Honda Accord, though one suspects a handful of the Accord's 1515 sales were of the abominable Crosstour variety. Accord sales were up 18.7%. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata was another strong player but even Hyundai's 76.4% improvement to 1071 sales couldn't touch the Ford Fusion or Nissan Altima's totals.

Ford Canada also showed strength in the large car segment. Detaching the Chrysler 300's 239 sales from the Dodge Charger's 129 sales places the Ford Taurus in first spot among large cars. The Chevrolet Impala suffered a 68% drop; Dodge Charger sales fell 85%. 

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Midsize Luxury & Large Luxury Car Sales - October 2010

Small Car Sales And Entry/Small Luxury Car Sales In Canada - October 2010

Helped by deals and by being one of the better small cars available, the Honda Civic zoom-zoomed past the competition in Canada and beat its nearest rival by 2164 sales in October 2010. There's more on the top sellers from the first Graph you'll see below in both Canada's Best-Selling Cars list from October 2010 and the Best-Selling Japanese Cars In Canada from October 2010. On a more interesting note...

The 2011 Ford Fiesta is starting to finally make a name for itself. Although the long-standing Canadian favourite and significantly less-expensive Hyundai Accent is still dominant, and while the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris both out-sold the Fiesta, the Ford's 868 total made it one of the best-selling American cars in Canada last month. There is also now a more realistic supply of Fiesta on Canadian Ford dealer lots. But with the 2012 Fiat 500 soon to be a challenger at Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep stores, can the Fiesta grab a consistent thousand sales per month?

BMW certainly grabs its 1000+ sales per month with the famous 3-Series. Available in four different bodystyles and with five different engines, BMW has a 3-Series to meet just about anyone's needs, so long as "anyone" has $37,650, the price of the 323i. One change marked in October 2010's rundown of small and small-priced luxury cars is the switcheroo between Germany's two other 3-Seriesesque cars. The Audi A4 held off the Mercedes-Benz C-Class for second place honours by a scant two units. Good for Audi, nonetheless. Hopefully plenty of those A4s sold were painted in Teak Brown Metallic.

CLICK GRAPH FOR LARGER VIEW

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Minivan Sales In Canada - October 2010

There's no denying Chrysler and Dodge's hold on the Canadian minivan market is based partially on price. You get the full-size minivan type, not the small sort like the Kia Rondo or Mazda 5 but the price is more Kia/Mazda-like than Honda/Toyota like. The new 2011 Honda Odyssey is priced from $29,990. The 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan starts at $20,945 and tops out (before options) at $27,990 for the SXT Plus.

Even so, the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan and 2011 Chrysler Town & Country will feature a 283-bhp 3.6L V6, an improved interior, and slightly rejigged styling. Adding greater appeal to a minivan that's already wildly successful will pay off. To what extent? 64% of all minivans sold in Canada in October 2010 were either Dodges or Chryslers. Chrysler only sold 452 of'em, but still. The duo is unbeatable. 

Can Chrysler/Dodge grab two-thirds of the minivan market in Canada; 75% even? To add to the first part of the theory, yes, Chrysler can grab even more of the minivan market, but only if prices stay low.

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

Let's be clear: GoodCarBadCar.net is as willing as any other website to give credit where credit is due. But the Ford Expedition was not Canada's best-selling large SUV in October 2010. In many Graphs, The Good Car Guy combines identical vehicles for the purposes of saving space. Think of the Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute, for example. In the Large SUV Sales chart, however, there's no need to save space. Thus, the Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and GMC Yukon XL are separated. Combined, even as duos - regular and stretched - the GM brutes have the Expedition beat. It is kind of interesting that the Suburban out-sold the Tahoe in October, but at volumes these low, anomalies happen.

As for Large Luxury SUVs, GM is not the victor. No, the crown goes to the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.... in concert with the more mainstream Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.

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Midsize SUV & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - October 2010
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Midsize SUV Sales And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - October 2010

In the midsize SUV sales segment(s), volume is large. Challenging for the overall title of best-selling midsize SUV in Canada in October 2010 is the Jeep Grand Cherokee. How did it get to 1315? Sales jumped 500% from October 2009, not an easy feat regardless of how low volume was before. The true victor, the 2011 Ford Edge, posted sales of 975 in October 2009 but zoomed to 1367 last month; likewise, not an easy feat. 

Even among the luxury competitors, sales are strong. Lexus RX sales fell 23% and it still topped the class. How 'bout those uppity European SUVs? Well, the Mercedes-Benz ML is no RX in terms of volume, but if your lemonade stand saw revenue of over $21 million from just one product in one month in a small market, you'd probably be pleased. Graphs on midsize SUV sales and midsize luxury SUV sales in Canada for October 2010 are below.

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

From Nissan's perspective, The Good Car Guy's test of the 2011 Nissan Juke was a roaring success. And though 83 sales a month doesn't sound like much, the Juke was only on sale in Canada for about a week in October. While the Juke is by no means directly comparable to the 2011 Mitsubishi RVR - the Outlander Sport in the States - it's quite likely that Juke sales in November or December will surpass the RVR. There's more on Nissan Canada's October 2010 here.

There's likely no other automotive category more competitive than the small luxury SUV segment. Some would like to see the Cadillac SRX pushed out of the arena, or have the Lexus RX thrown in. Regardless, even the RX's 659 October sales sounds like a reachable total for the others. Only the Volvo XC60 and Land Rover LR2 seem ignored. So what's gonna happen to the LR2 when the 2011 Land Rover Evoque steals the show? 

Graphs representing October 2010 Canadian auto sales for small SUVs and small luxury SUVs are below.

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Large SUV & Large Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - October 2010

Top 10 Best Selling American SUVs In Canada - October 2010

The same can't be said for of the purchasing of American body-on-frame SUVs in America, but Canadians aren't all that interested in acquiring traditional sport-utility vehicles... unless it's the Jeep Wrangler. The structures of every other SUV on the list below, Canada's Top 10 Best-Selling American SUVs in October 2010, are pretty much the same as you'll find on a car. In fact, these so-called SUVs (or crossovers, or CUVs, or cute-utes) generally operate in front-wheel drive. Canadians, quite clearly, don't care. Canada has made the Ford Escape one of the country's overall best-selling vehicles, not just among SUVs but trucks and cars, too.

There are heavy-duty improvements coming to the Dodge Journey, the kind of improvements that may see it leverage its tremendously low price to the #1 spot on this list. One never knows. The 2011 Dodge Journey will be available with a smoother 3.6L Pentastar V6 engine generating 283 horsepower, a 6-speed automatic, and a revamped interior. Dodge.ca lists the current Journey's base price at $18,745 - Americans are expected to pony up $2100 more. But if Chrysler has a story right now it most assuredly is not the 2011 Journey. No, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is on fire. Canadian Grand Cherokee sales are up 500% compared with October 2010; the 26.6% improvement on September 2010 ain't shabby, either.

Rank	SUV/Crossover	Status	October 2010	% Change
#1	Ford Escape	↔	3247	-1.1
#2	Dodge Journey	↔	2512	+30.7
#3	Chevrolet Equinox	↑	1374	+2.8
#4	Ford Edge	↓	1367	+40.2
#5	Jeep Grand Cherokee	↔	1315	+500.5
#6	GMC Terrain	↑	921	+72.1
#7	Jeep Patriot	↓	882	+28.4
#8	Jeep Wrangler	↔	577	-7.1
#9	Lincoln MKX	↔	527	+141.7
#10	Chevrolet Traverse	↑	440	-3.1

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Top 10 Best Selling American Cars In Canada - October 2010

Tacking on the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze's 325 sales isn't necessary to make the Chevrolet Cobalt the best-selling American car in Canada for October 2010. The heavily discounted Cobalt can find #1 all on its own. 

The emphasis American car companies place on their SUVs and trucks isn't forgotten, but it is easy to forget that big cars are still an American tradition. Though the Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In Canada list is full of smallerish vehicles and just two midsize competitors in October, the Top 10 Best-Selling American Cars In Canada list is split half and half between smaller stuff and bigger cars like the Ford Fusion and Taurus, Chevrolet Malibu and Impala, and Buick LaCrosse. Have a look at the Top 10 Best-Selling Japanese Cars In Canada list for October 2010 and you'll see 70% on the smaller side of things.

As for the 2011 Ford Fiesta, this marks two months in a row (that's as long as The Good Car Guy's been keeping track) in which it was the #5 car on this list. After four months on sale, the Ford Canada's Fiesta growth has finally hit a bit of a wall. July Fiesta sales were at 386, then 610 in August, 907 in September, and 868 in October. 

Rank	Car	Status	October 2010	% Change
#1	Chevrolet Cobalt/Cruze	↔	2686	+162
#2	Ford Focus	↔	1436	+7.5
#3	Ford Fusion	↔	1325	-12.8
#4	Chevrolet Malibu	↔	1080	+10
#5	Ford Fiesta	↔	868	-----
#6	Chevrolet Aveo	↑	530	+10.6
#7	Ford Taurus	↑	351	+45
#8	Chevrolet Impala	↓	348	-68
#9	Buick LaCrosse	↓	335	+42.6
#10	Dodge Caliber	↔	309	-56.9

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Top 10 Best-Selling European SUVs In Canada - October 2010

Perhaps more impressive than the total number of SUV sales completed by high-end automakers from Europe in Canada in October 2010 is the fact that all but the least-expensive utility vehicle on this list improved on their October 2009 totals. Only the $27,875 Volkswagen Tiguan posted declining volume.

The Top 10 Best-Selling European SUVs In Canada group is an eclectic mix of big, medium, and small; of retro and modern; of off-road capable and front-wheel drive-oriented. Volvo Canada, even with sales up 13.9% overall,  wasn't able to crack the list this month. BMW, even without the 2011 X3, out-sold the lovely Good 12-winning Audi Q5. And the success of the 2011 Porsche Cayenne seems to make a very good case for the introduction of a baby Cayenne, perhaps just like the one seen here.

Rank	SUV/Crossover	Status	October 2010	% Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz GLK	↑	420	+12
#2	Volkswagen Tiguan	↓	407	-8.9
#3	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	↔	381	+9.2
#4	BMW X5	↑	356	+12.7
#5	BMW X3	↔	264	+28.2
#6	Audi Q5	↔	237	+2.2
#7	Audi Q7	↓	177	+29.2
#8	Mercedes-Benz G & GL	↑	175	+10.8
#9	Land Rover  Range Rover Sport	↑	122	+10.9
#10	Porsche Cayenne	↓	103	+114.6

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