Canada LV Sales Hit November Record

A 2-month sales drought ended in November when an increase in the daily selling rate and two additional selling days pushed Canadian light-vehicle deliveries to a November record for the third consecutive year.

At a rate of 6,169 daily, dealers retailed 160,402 LVs  to Canadian consumers last month,  1.7% ahead of the 6,064-a-day pace of a year ago, when 145.537 units were driven off the lots and 20% more than the 133,586 LV sold in 2014 at a rate of 5,138 daily.

The record-setting November performance was due to surging light-truck demand.

Consumers took home 111,647 light trucks in November at a daily rate of 4,294 units. That was 8.1% more than the prior year’s 3,971-a-day pace on volume of 95,303 and the seventh consecutive November benchmark.

Cars, on the other hand, languished on the lots with just 48,755 finding buyers, the second-lowest November tally in the last 31 years. Only the 48,082 cars sold in November 1995 were lower.  Compared with year-ago they were down 10.5%.

General Motors, with a 20.7% gain on year-ago, leapfrogged competitors Fiat Chrysler and Ford to nail down the top spot in November LV sales, the same position it held a year earlier.

A 32.9% gain in light-truck volume, resulting largely from a surge in midsize pickups, SUVs and CUVs, was behind GM’s rise from third position in October, although GM still ranked No.3 in January-November volume with 249,212 units vs. 244,744.

Ford, which led the market in year-to-date volume with 281,523 units as against 255,556 a year ago, when it ran second to FCA, fell to second place in November following a slim first-place lead in October.

Ford mustered only an 8.6% gain over year-ago in November, besting its October performance by 8.5%. The automaker’s 15.2% year-on-year light-truck gain was not enough to offset its 17.9% shortfall in car sales.

A 10.7% decline in November LV deliveries relegated FCA to No. 3  compared with No.1 a year ago, while Toyota remained solidly in fourth position despite a 3.8% decline in November sales. abinder@wardsauto.com