Canadians bought one million new vehicles through June
Canadian auto sales are up five per cent so far this year, after crossing the one-million mark in June
Despite slumping passenger car sales, for the first time more than one million new vehicles have been sold in Canada by the midway mark of the year.
DesRosiers Automotive Reports says overall car and light-truck sales increased five per cent, with 1,039,068 vehicles moving off lots from January through June compared to the same time period last year. The market research firm says auto sales in June also set a
If you’re holding out for a Honda Civic Type R that can shift gears itself, you’re out of luck.
Speaking with Australia’s Motoring, Honda powertrain head Yuji Matsumochi says there’s one key reason the all-new Civic Type R comes exclusively with a sixspeed manual. As with many performance cars, weight is the enemy, and anything that wasn’t a traditional new record, with 203,486 vehicles sold, 6.5 per cent more than during manual transmission not only would’ve made the powertrain itself too heavy, but it also would have thrown off the Civic Type R’s already front-biased weight distribution.
“(The) engine has big power and relatively heavyweight, so the transmission needed to be lightweight,” he said. “If we tried to have an automatic transmission or DCT for over 400 NM (of torque, or 295+ pound-feet), then the powertrain would be very heavy.”
Of course, the Civic Type R being manual only is all the better. Not only does it maintain exclusivity, it keeps the Type R an enthusiast special, given the mandatory third the same month a year ago. Like in the past, sales of light pedal. Of course, the idea of future Civic Type R variants maintaining the manual-only formula is now far more appetizing. trucks led the way in June, rising by 10 per cent year-over-year and easily offsetting a 0.1 per cent decline in passenger car sales. Yearto-date, passenger car sales were down two per cent while lighttruck sales were up 8.8 per cent. Canada’s best-selling vehicle outright, the Ford F-Series pickup, was up 19.6 per cent compared to last June, with 15,307 units sold. The Honda Civic was Canada’s best-selling car; sales were up 4.6 per cent to 8,616 cars.
While this is the strongest start on record for Canada, DesRosiers says a different picture has been forming in the U.S., where new vehicle sales have been down for four consecutive months as of June.
The Civic Type R is $40,890 before destination charges in Canada and comes in only black and white.
For owners who want to stand out just little bit more, Audi Sport has unveiled a full line of performance and appearance add-ons for the Audi TT and R8.
The most extensive and visually arresting of these upgrades is the full aero kit. Available on both cars, the kit is made out of what Audi calls “carbon-fibre reinforced polymer.” On the R8, the kit provides an impressive 250 kilograms of downforce at speed, although downforce isn’t mentioned on the TT. Nevertheless, the tall rear wing and pedestrian-slicing front canards make both cars look more racy.
Under the fancy skin, Audi owners can opt for two- or three-way adjustable coilovers and raceready brake pads. Available for TT owners is an Audi Sport-approved Akrapovic exhaust for both the four- and five-cylinder engines. No horsepower gain is mentioned, but the system is lighter and louder than the factory setup.
These components and a few others will soon be available in Germany and select other European markets, but North American availability hasn’t been mentioned yet. We wouldn’t hold our breath.