Canada’s five largest sellers of cars actually bring in over half of the country’s passenger car sales
Picture this. It’s 2010. You’ve decided to acquire a new vehicle. The Great Recession is waning, interest rates are low, and automakers are very keen to sell vehicles after a lengthy stretch of disappointing quarters.
You walk into, let’s say, your local Mazda dealer. And you – yes, you – are nine times more likely to choose Mazda’s compact car as opposed to Mazda’s small SUV. In fact, even though light truck volume overtakes passenger car sales in 2010 – never to look back – compact cars still rule the Canadian automotive landscape.
Revert back to the here and now, and picture this. Interest rates are uncomfortably high, most automakers still haven’t saturated Canada’s dealer lots, and price points for everyday cars are now exorbitant. You’ve decided to acquire a new vehicle, so you walk into, let’s say, your local Mazda dealer. Some 14 years removed from the last purchase, you’re now three times more likely to choose one of Mazda’s small SUVs as opposed to Mazda’s compact car.
The downward trajectory of Canada’s passenger car market isn’t new, nor is it necessarily news. More noteworthy is the fact that passenger cars haven’t yet found the bottom of the barrel; Canadians haven’t entirely finished the collective move toward SUVs/crossovers. From 52% of the market in 2009, passenger car market share fell in 14 of the following 15 years, plunging below 40% for the first time in 2015, below 30% for the first time in 2018, and below 20% for the first time in 2021. Just under 15% of the new vehicles sold in the first-half of 2024 were cars.
Nevertheless, there are automakers that continue to sell sedans, hatchbacks, and even some coupes in reasonably healthy numbers. Canada’s five largest sellers of cars actually bring in over half of the country’s passenger car sales, and some of them actually surged in the first-half of 2024.
5. Volkswagen: 9,540, up 92%
4. Nissan: 10,096, up 11%
3. Hyundai: 11,839, down 2%
2. Honda: 16,103, up 10%
1. Toyota: 24,939, up 27%
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