Canadian auto sales is shining. In March the light vehicle market scored the 16th growth in a row, with 160,810 sales (+8.1%), while first quarter sales reached 405,072 (+14.0%).
Market Trend and Outlook
In March the Canadian light vehicle market scored the 16th growth in a row, with 160,810 sales (+8.1%), while first quarter sales reached 405,072 (+14.0%).
Looking at cumulative data from 2024 brand-wise, the new leader Toyota increased 36.0% in sales with 50,722 new registrations.
In 2nd place ranks Ford -down 1 spot- with 48,105 sales (+6.5%), followed in 3rd by Chevrolet with 31,419 units sold (+4.9%).
In 4th spot ranks Nissan -up 4 spots- with 28,048 sales and a 48.9% growth in year-on-year performance.
Honda gains 4 spots ranking in 5th with 27,579 sales (+70.3%), followed by Hyundai -down 2 spots- at 27,532 (+7.2%), GMC -down 2 spots at 23,774 (+0.7%), Kia -down 1 spot- with 21,221 units sold (+3.5%), Subaru -up 4 spots- with 17,723 new registrations (+85.8%) and GMC -up 2 spots- in 10th place with 17,482 sales (+58.8%).
Looking at specific models the Ford F-series is still the best seller whilst a 5.6% increase in year-on year volume, followed by the Toyota RAV4 up 23.5% and 1 spot.
As one of the world’s top producers of light vehicles – 1.4 million vehicles are assembled at the Canadian plants of Stellantis, Ford, GM, Honda, and Toyota each year, supplied by nearly 700 parts suppliers – Canada’s automotive sector is heavily reliant on global supply chains.
Following significant losses borne by the global automotive industry in the wake of border closures, factory lockdowns and semiconductor chip shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s sector has been especially vulnerable to supply chain constraints.
Automakers have been driven to pursue leaner and more creative risk mitigation and cost-efficient strategies to bypass further disruption, including strengthening relationships or dual sourcing with suppliers to increase supply chain flexibility, diversifying markets, and building inventory.
However, these actions have not been able to fix the issues in place and the domestic market keeps decline.
Medium-Term Market Trend
Following an impressive series of 8 consecutive growth, the Canadian domestic light vehicles market in 2017 broke the 2 million units milestone, hitting the current all-time record and entering the club of the top 10 largest global vehicle industries.
However, such an outstanding level was not maintained for long. In 2019 (-3.7%) the market entered in a negative phase that has not yet come to an end. In 2022 the market maintained this downfall, losing 7.6%, reaching 1.51 million sales and reporting losses in 11 out of 12 months.
In 2023 the economic struggle hasn’t reflected yet in the country’s vehicle market, which registered 1.69 million units sold (+11.4%).
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for all Brands and top 10 Groups.
