Canadian dealers delivered a record 138,414 new light vehicles in November, at a rate of 5,324 on each of 26 selling days, virtually assuring 2014 will go down in the record books. Although last month’s performance cooled 10.6% from the prior month’s 5,954-a-day pace, on volume of 154,814 vehicles, it was 7.5% better than the former November record of 133,648 LVs set a year ago, at the rate of 4,950 units on each of 27 selling days.
Having delivered 1,717,786 units in the first 11 months, dealers stand just 24,340 units shy of beating the record 1,740,125 cars and light trucks sold in 2013.
Even if December volume were to show no increase over year-ago, LV sales would reach a record 1,828,600 units in 2014, breaching 1.8 million unit level for the first time.
The industry’s sparkling performance is powered by consumers’ seemingly insatiable appetite for light trucks.
Surpassing the year-ago record of 77,460 units, the 84,317 light trucks sold in November already has brought year-to-date volume to an all-time high of 1,008,058 vehicles, besting by 2.3% the prior calendar-year benchmark of 984,510 posted in 2013.
At the same time, car sales continue to languish with November volume of 54,097 units trailing prior-year’s 56,126 deliveries. In terms of daily rate, it was wash due to the extra selling day in 2013.
Compared with the November-record 92,570 cars sold in 1985, last month’s selling pace was down 43.8%.
Among the November sales highlights, Fiat Chrysler outpaced rival Ford to claim first-place honors for the month and year-to-date, largely on the strength of light-truck volume, although Ford maintained its lead in car sales, including Mustang’s 57% November gain.
Ford, despite falling behind in overall light-truck volume, saw both F-Series and F-150 set November sales records, while sales of the redesigned Transit Connect rose 46%.
At the same time, General Motors sold 223 of its all-new Canyon and Colorado midsize pickups in November despite limited availability.
