Canada looks to hit record vehicle sales
DesRosiers Automotive Consultants says it’s looking increasingly likely that Canadians will buy more than two million vehicles this year after another recordsetting month.
The consulting firm says September sales hit about 186,800 vehicles, up 7.7 per cent from the same month last year. Last month’s numbers brought total sales this year to 1.59 million, up 5.5 per cent from last year, with every month but April hitting a record.
Ford retook the top spot from General Motors with 30,881 sales in the month compared with GM’s 27,237 units sold, putting Ford about 14,000 units ahead of its chief rival for total sales so far this year.
Many brands with a smaller footprint in Canada saw double-digit sales gains in September, including a 50.5 per cent increase for Volkswagen, 32.3 per cent increase for Jaguar, and 24.1 per cent increase for Maserati.
DesRosiers said September’s total sales included 129,731 light trucks, making every month this year a record for the heavier segment that includes SUVs, pickup trucks and vans, while car sales of 57,106 in the month remain below records set since the late 1980s.
Meanwhile, the U.S. auto market probably expanded for the first time this year as consumers started to replace vehicles following hurricane Harvey, which likely damaged more cars than any storm in history.
General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. led all major carmakers reporting better results for the month than analysts estimated. Both said the industry may have sold vehicles at the fastest pace since December.