SUVs, crossovers continue to dominate
That segment accounted for 47% of all new auto sales in Canada over first six months of 2020
Ten years ago, 47 per cent of the new vehicles sold in Canada were passenger cars. That means Honda Civics, Mazda 3s, and Toyota Camrys. Five years ago, 38 per cent of the new vehicles sold in Canada were passenger cars. By 2018, that figure had fallen to 30 per cent, and last year barely more than one-quarter of all vehicles sold in Canada were cars. Through the first half of 2020, car market share is below 22 per cent. What happened?
SUVs happened. Crossovers happened. And, uncomfortable as it may sound, SUV coupes happened. (Cringing-ly, they have four doors.)
The tide has entirely turned. The SUV/crossover segment that accounted for a tick more than one-quarter of the Canadian auto market a decade ago produced 47 per cent of all new vehicle sales in 2020's first six months.
More specifically, Canada's 10 top-selling utility vehicles generated nearly four of every 10 SUVs/crossovers sold so far this year.
10. FORD EXPLORER: 6,696, UP 40 PER CENT
During a pandemic that flattened Canada's light vehicle market, the sixth-generation Ford Explorer catapulted forward, producing 40 per cent more volume than in 2019's first six months. It's hard to believe, but it's a consequence of two factors. First, the freshly redesigned Explorer is simply selling very well. Second, one year ago, the redesigned Explorer was selling very poorly as a result of a bungled launch.
9. JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE: 6,839, DOWN 29 PER CENT
This is the fourth-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee's 10th model year. By the modern standards of automotive generational turnover, the Grand Cherokee is ancient. Yet it's also ridiculously popular despite its advanced age. In an age of increasingly broad “crossover” definitions, the Grand Cherokee has a level of SUV cred to which only a few competitors can even remotely measure up. Given the fact Grand Cherokee sales aren't falling as fast as the SUV market at large, it seems to be an effective strategy.
8. JEEP WRANGLER: 7,960, DOWN 41 PER CENT
Will approaching competition, in the form of the first Ford Bronco in decades, do the Jeep Wrangler harm? Or will the Bronco simply spur interest in genuinely off-road capable SUVs, aiding both Ford and Jeep? Count on the latter, as Jeep's reputation in this category is long since cemented. Jeep sold a record 25,659 Wranglers in Canada last year, the fourth time in the past six years the Wrangler has crested the 20,000 mark.
7. HYUNDAI TUCSON: 9,044, DOWN 34 PER CENT
One of two Hyundais in the top seven, the Tucson is now the oldest model in Hyundai's lineup. It was revamped in 2015 for the 2016 model year. Age doesn't seem to be hindering the Tucson's success, however, nor does operating in the slightly smaller end of the compact SUV segment.
6. MAZDA CX-5: 9,208, DOWN 29 PER CENT
Compared with 2019's first half, Mazda CX-5 sales are down by 3,700 units this year. And, yes, Mazda CX-5 sales tumbled 37 per cent in the second quarter of 2020. But that's not the whole story. Canada's sixth bestselling utility vehicle is a bright light, a sign of meaningful recovery. With 2,909 sales, June was the CX-5's best month ever. July, meanwhile, was very nearly as good, with 2,901 CX-5s sold.
5. HYUNDAI KONA: 9,408, DOWN 28 PER CENT
Subcompact crossovers are here to stay. As proof, the segment led by this Hyundai Kona is now the fourth highest-volume automotive segment in Canada.
Nearly 10 per cent of all vehicles sold in Canada are now subcompact crossovers. And more than 15 per cent of all subcompact crossovers sold in Canada are Hyundai Konas. The Kona has a helper in the segment, too: Hyundai Venue sales totalled 3,022 units in 2020's first six months.
4. NISSAN ROGUE: 9,857, DOWN 49 PER CENT
The Rogue's struggles in 2020, in which sales are falling far more harshly than the SUV/crossover sector overall, are nothing new. The Rogue is an outdated model. A comprehensively equipped model, but an outdated one nonetheless.
The second Rogue was introduced for 2014, and sales peaked in 2017. But Rogue volume dropped in 2018 and 2019, sliding 14 per cent below record levels even as competitors surged. The allnew 2021 Rogue couldn't come at a more important time.
3. FORD ESCAPE: 10,209, DOWN 51 PER CENT
Unlike the new Ford Explorer, which bounced back from a poor start with rapid sales recovery even in the turmoil of 2020, the new Ford Escape hasn't had time to bounce yet. Launched in the dead of winter, just prior to a pandemic, the new Escape is selling less than half as well as the old Escape did one year ago, and it has more challenges ahead. Ford's Bronco Sport is a more overtly SUV-like small crossover that will join Ford's lineup later this year.
2. HONDA CR-V: 17,661, DOWN 36 PER CENT
Canada's two top-selling utility vehicles are both built in Canada. The Honda CR-V, which hails from Alliston, Ont., has broken its own sales records in each of the past four years. CR-V volume topped out above 55,000 in 2019 before nosediving during 2020's pandemic. Barring a serious recovery, the CR-V is tracking toward a year with roughly 35,000 sales.
1. TOYOTA RAV4: 20,596, DOWN 36 PER CENT
While its top rival was launched in all-new form for the 2017 model year, the Toyota RAV4 was all new last year. But while Honda Canada doesn't allow the CR-V Hybrid to operate in Canada, the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid contributes a healthy percentage of overall RAV4 sales: 22 per cent last year.
As a result of a broadly successful lineup, the RAV4 isn't just Canada's top-selling SUV, it outsells all cars on the market as well.