Canadian buyers drove home a record 154,728 new light vehicles last month, albeit at a less hurried pace compared with recent months.
October LV sales averaged 5,951 on each of 26 selling days, beating by 6.5% the 5,586 units sold daily a year ago, when a then-October-record 145,245 vehicles were delivered.
However, October’s daily rate was the lowest since February’s 4,396-a-day pace, on volume of 105,497 units, and a sharp 14.8% decline from the 6,982 LVs sold daily in September, when 167,578 units left dealer lots, a September record.
Still, even if sales for November and December run flat compared with year-ago, the Canadian market will reach a second consecutive LV record of at least 1,824,000 units, 4.8% ahead of the benchmark 1,740,125 sold in 2013. More likely, the year will end with deliveries in the neighborhood of 1,840,000 units.
Whatever the final tally, it will be driven by consumer interest in light-trucks, deliveries of which totaled a record 90,323 units in October.
Light trucks have consistently set monthly sales records throughout the year, while car deliveries languished, including in October when, at 64,405 units, cars ranked only 12th historically, well behind the record 105,863 sold in October 1985.
A charging Fiat Chrysler pulled ahead of archrival Ford 22,160 units vs. 21,715, in October, thanks to a 23.1% gain on the prior year, but Ford remains the front-runner in the year-to-date standings with a slim 325-unit lead: 246,185 vs. 245,860.
Although General Motors posted a 7.3% October sales increase and stands 5.4% ahead for the year, it remains well back in the No.5 spot for January-October, trailing third-place Toyota-Lexus’s 173,473 units (up 3.6%) and Honda-Acura’s 144,498 units (up 5.0%).
