Crediting the popularity of 16 all-new or significantly refreshed products, Chrysler Canada grabbed the top spot in Canadian new light-vehicle sales in February for the second consecutive month.
Canadian dealers retailed 106,319 new light vehicles in February, up 4.8% on a daily rate basis from the prior month and 6.6% better than year-ago’s 95,788.
Although Chrysler deliveries were off 4.5% from a robust January performance, they bested year-ago by 3.8% thanks to a whopping 40.6% surge in Chrysler brand and Jeep deliveries.
Ford, which was 2011’s market leader in Canada, remained in second place, with sales down 8.8% from prior year. However, it narrowed the gap with Chrysler slightly during the month.
General Motors was the only top North American auto maker to record a February increase, climbing 5.6% from January and 11.4% from February 2011.
After posting a considerable year-over-year increase in January, Honda settled back with a 7.0% decline in February, although it outpaced like-2011 by 9.2%. Archrivals Nissan and Toyota both saw gains compared with prior month and year-ago.
Overall, Asia/Pacific brand February sales were 10.2% better than in January and 11.8% ahead of year-ago. European-brands also rose, by 7.0% and 6.6%, respectively
