More than 30 automotive brands are actively selling passenger cars in Canada, from upstarts such as Hyundai’s Genesis offshoot; to previously powerful brands such as Chrysler. More than a dozen premium brands compete for attention by reaching further and further downmarket while automakers of all stripes divert attention to SUVs and crossovers.
Which brands are actually still managing to sell cars? Can any high-volume automaker increase their car sales total, year-over-year? With 2019 sales figures from Global Automakers of Canada, we answer those questions. 8. Mazda: 23,452, down 23 percentThought it couldn’t get any worse for the Mazda 3? Often a top rival for the Honda Civic, Mazda 3 sales progressively fell 35 per cent between 2014 and 2018. Then Mazda launched an all-new 3 with an all-wheel-drive option. But this is not where it all turned around, as the new 3 declined even more rapidly, sliding 23 per cent to 23,452 units.
6. Kia: 35,612, down 4 percentIn theory, new product should help. And even in shrinking categories like Canada’s compact segment, new product certainly did help Kia in 2019. The new Forte jumped 8 per cent, as did sales of the new Soul. Granted, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Sales of the midsize Optima were chopped in half, and the Rio took a 25-per-cent tumble.