Canada May Sales Near Record Level

It was onward and upward in May, as Canada new light-vehicle sales remained second-best in history for a second consecutive month, thanks to all-time-high light-truck deliveries.

Canadian dealers rolled an average of 7,088 units out the door each of 26 selling days last month on total volume of 184,281 units. That fell just 0.5% shy of tying the all-time May record of 185,086 vehicles set in 2007.

May LV sales rose 3.4% from April’s 6,857-unit daily rate and surpassed by 5.1% the 6,744 sold each of 26 selling days year-ago.

Driving last month’s volume to near-record levels were light-truck deliveries totaling 99,146 units. That surpassed by 7.4% the 92,301 sold year-ago, which easily topped third-best 2007’s 84,287.

Although May sales of 85,135 cars beat prior-year’s 83,033 units by 2.5% on a DSR basis, they posed no threat to the all-time record for the month of 118,991 set in 1985, an indication of the demand shift toward trucks.

Market-leader Ford’s May sales rose 10.9% from April, but fell 0.7% short of prior-year results due to a 8.9% decline in car deliveries.

Ford truck sales increased 7.5% from April and 4.4% from May 2012 on strong demand for the F-Series, Explorer and Escape.

Second-place Chrysler boasted LV sales gains of 8.6% vs. April and 11.3% from year-ago, again thanks to rising light-truck deliveries. All models except the Journey and Ram cargo van posted significant increases.

General Motors remained the weakest of the Detroit Three, with May LV sales trailing April’s results by 9.3% and besting prior-year’s performance by just 1.6%.

Asian-brand deliveries topped April by 3.7% and inventory-constrained year-ago by 7.6%, thanks in large part to gains by Honda/Acura, Hyundai, Nissan/Infiniti and Toyota/Lexus.

European makes did not fare as well, edging past their April performance by a mere 0.2% and falling 0.3% shy of their May 2012 tally.

Canadian LV sales total 710,061 units year-to-date, up 2.3% from 693,959 in like-2012. The Detroit Three are up a collective 4.8%, while the Europeans have gained 2.0% in volume and Asian makes are flat with year-ago’s pace.

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