Record September Canadian LV Sales
Executive Summary
Peak light-truck demand again drove Canadian light-vehicle sales to a record level in September, 3.0% above year-ago.
Seemingly insatiable light-truck demand and an extra selling day again drove light-vehicle deliveries to a record level in September, in Canada.
Buyers drove 186,000 new cars and light trucks off dealer lots in September, an average of 7,154 on each of 26 selling days. That bested by 2.7% the prior benchmark set in 2015, when 174,084 units were sold in 25 days at an average of 6,963 daily.
The market suffered a bit of a downturn in September last year, when sales slipped to 173,562, a 25-day average of 6,943.
Light-truck sales rose to a September record of 129,297, or 7.6% more than the prior peak of 115,505 a year earlier, marking the segment’s eighth consecutive September high.
At the same time, cars continued to languish with just 56,706 of them finding buyers. Last month’s 2,181-a-day rate was 6.1% less than prior-year’s 2,322-unit pace on volume of 58,057 and 36.8% under the 3,451 sold daily in September 1986, when a record 86,273 delivered.
Despite a 4.0% year-on-year decline, Ford reclaimed the top LV sales spot in September after relinquishing it to rival General Motors in August.
For its part GM boasted a 2.8% year-over-year gain last month, although compared with its August performance GM was down 6.0%.
Sales for the year through September totaled 1,587,329, a 5.3% increase from like-2016’s 1,507,499 vehicles with Ford again leading the market with a 2.3% increase.
On the strength of a 16.6% gain, GM rose to second place for the year, while FCA Canada’s 3.0% decline relegated it to the No.3 spot, down from second a year earlier.
Together dealers for the top five manufacturers, accounting for 64% of the market, delivered 1,016,151 cars and light trucks in January-September, 5.2% more than the 965,800 sold in like-2016.
