Canada’s 10 most popular mid-size cars
While Canadians are buying more cars, 2018 has seen sharp plummet for the family sedan
Half a decade ago, Canadians were buying and leasing just under 150,000 new vehicles every month, including nearly 11,000 mid-size sedans. A little more than midway through 2018, Canadians buy and lease an average of more than 173,000 new vehicles each month, of which fewer than 6,000 are mid-size sedans.
The shift is positively tectonic. This year is on track to be second only to 2017 in terms of total new vehicle sales volume in Canada, yet the growth experienced by the Canadian auto industry stands in vivid contrast to the decline of the once vital family sedan market.
The market shifts have resulted in the disappearance of many competitors in the segment, most recently the Chrysler 200. Ford’s Fusion, Canada’s top-selling mid-size car as recently as recently as 2014, is also destined to disappear soon. But for the moment, the Fusion remains a high-level player.
10 SUBARU LEGACY: 1,169, DOWN 21 PER CENT
In theory, the Subaru Legacy should benefit from its status as the only vehicle in Canada’s mid-size sedan segment to offer all-wheel drive as standard equipment. That should be especially true given the market’s shift to AWD utility vehicles. Instead, the Subaru Legacy is an often ignored member of the class. The Legacy’s jacked-up wagon sibling, Subaru’s very popular Outback, now attracts nearly six times more buyers than the Legacy.
9 MAZDA 6: 1,612, UP EIGHT PER CENT
Boosted by the Q2 launch of a revamped 2018 model with altered styling, many unseen improvements, and an additional engine option, the Mazda 6 has enjoyed a modest sales increase in the rapidly declining mid-size sedan segment. Granted, 6 volume remains small in comparison to segment leaders. Its sales volume also remains weak compared to the Mazda’s historic levels. Mazda reported 11,738 sales of the 6 in 2005 but will be fortunate to reach even a quarter of that volume in 2018.
8 KIA OPTIMA: 2,019, DOWN 31 PER CENT
The Kia Optima’s corporate sibling, Hyundai’s Sonata, has at different times shown a true ability to compete for top-tier market share in Canada’s mid-size sedan segment. Yet despite a wide variety of trim and powertrain offerings, including hybrid and plug-in hybrid options, the Kia Optima has not. Only at its peak, when 11,992 Optimas were sold in 2012, did the Optima resemble a successful Canadian effort. Annual Optima volume then declined sharply in 2013 and continued to decline every year since.
7 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT: 2,353, DOWN TWO PER CENT
Both before and after Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal, Canadian sales of the Volkswagen Passat were shrinking. That decline has largely levelled off for the Passat now, but Volkswagen is still selling only half as many Passats in 2018 as the company managed to push in 2012. The Passat is also overdue for replacement; 2018 is the current car’s seventh model year.
6 HYUNDAI SONATA: 3,116, DOWN 28 PER CENT
In 2010, when the all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata arrived as the Korean automaker’s sixth attempt at cracking North America’s mid-size market, it was an instant success. Sonata sales in 2010 jumped 54 per cent, year-over-year, before rising a further 18 per cent in 2011 as annual volume hit a record high of 16,343 units. That made the Sonata Canada’s second-best-selling midsize car in 2011. The Sonata now ranks sixth. Since 2015, Sonata volume has fallen 63 per cent in Canada.
5 NISSAN ALTIMA: 4,127, DOWN 12 PER CENT
An all-new 2019 Nissan Altima, expected to go on sale this year, adopts the segment’s trend of V6 removal in favour of more economical four-cylinder engine choices. Simple freshness may well breathe new life into the Altima lineup, but this favoured member of North America’s daily rental fleet is fighting an uphill battle against strong headwinds and very well-received competition. The two most popular cars in the class were both replaced by all-new models last year. Altima volume, meanwhile, plunged 60 per cent over the past decade.
4 CHEVROLET MALIBU: 4,727, DOWN NINE PER CENT
In a segment that fell 17 per cent, year-over-year, through the first seven months of 2018, the Chevrolet Malibu’s comparatively modest nine per cent drop is worthy of note. Malibu volume is undeniably not as healthy as it once was: Chevrolet is on track to sell 7,400 Malibus in 2018, down from more than 18,000 in 2006. But after the previous Malibu nosedived to only 5,697 sales in 2012, the current car’s healthier volume and improved standing in the segment is welcome respite.
3 FORD FUSION: 4,853, DOWN 26 PER CENT
During the first seven months of 2014, the last year in which the Fusion was Canada’s most popular mid-size car, Ford sold 11,390 copies of the sedan between January and July. Factor in the huge incentives — Ford.ca displays $3,429 in discounts on a mid-grade Fusion SE, not factoring in a $1,000 Costco members rebate — that Ford now requires to sell far fewer Fusions and you begin to understand the Blue Oval’s rationale for planning its escape from the North American car business.
2 HONDA ACCORD: 7,784, DOWN 12 PER CENT
There were high hopes for the tenth-generation Honda Accord. An earner of rave reviews and a winner of countless awards, the Accord launched by the Japanese brand last fall for the 2018 model year is an undeniable leap forward for the nameplate. But Canadians continue to veer away from the Accord, which lost 34 per cent of its volume between 2004 and 2014 and is on track in 2018 to fall 30 per cent shy of 2014’s Canadian sales total.
1 TOYOTA CAMRY: 8,699, UP 12 PER CENT
Although it’s America’s best-selling car, even a newly launched Camry with a meaningful sales uptick ranks just seventh overall in Canadian new car sales, and just 28th in terms of new vehicle sales overall. The Camry is nevertheless making major Canadian headway while gobbling up swaths of mid-size sedan market share. This year is on track to be the Toyota’s fourth consecutive year as Canada’s best-selling mid-size car. This year, that includes 21 per cent market share, up from 16 per cent in 2015.