Canadian auto sales declined more than 4 per cent, year-over-year, in the first quarter of 2019. That loss of roughly 18,000 sales compared with the same period one year ago still resulted in more than 400,000 total car, SUV, pickup, and van sales in 2019’s first three months. Translated, that means 2019 kicked off with the third-fastest start in the industry’s history.
Despite the industry’s rapid rate of change – take, for instance, the fact that Canada’s top-selling automotive brand is all but forsaking the passenger car sector – the most popular auto brands of last year are largely the most popular auto brands this year. Apart from Mazda’s disappearance from the top 10 and Kia’s insertion, little has changed beyond some order alterations.
8. GMC: 19,009, down 6 per cent As a truck-focused brand, GMC was boosted by a post-recession market that went crazy for trucks. But as pickup truck sales decline, so too does GMC. Even with a new Sierra, sales of GMC pickup trucks are down 9 per cent so far this year. Making matters worse are the declines faced by other GMC models. The Acadia, Savana, Yukon, and Yukon XL join the Canyon and Sierra on the negative side of the ledger.
5. Nissan: 28,655, down 8 per cent With a car lineup that’s plunged 30 per cent so far this year, Nissan’s increasingly popular small crossovers simply don’t generate the kind of appeal necessary to cancel out such sharp declines elsewhere in the lineup. Qashqai and Kicks volume is rising; the duo accounted for 27 per cent of Nissan sales in March, for example. But Nissan’s cars aren’t the only ones fading.