Canada Sales in Funk

The malaise that has dogged inventory-strappped Japanese auto makers in Canada appears to have spread to the competition.

September light-vehicle sales in Canada totaled 133,945 for a 0.7% dip compared with like-2010, according to WardsAuto data.

Toyota Corolla, 2010’s best-selling car, sees 11.5% shortfall in September.

It was that market’s third consecutive month of decline. Through the first nine months of the year, Canada’s LV deliveries were tracking 1.4% ahead of like-2010.

September’s 1.7% uptick in light-truck demand, compared with like-2010, helped mitigate a 3.9% downturn in car deliveries.

Of the six auto makers with the highest shares in the month, four recorded sales declines. They were:

Chrysler and the combined performance of Hyundai-Kia were exceptions. Their September sales jumped 19.3% and 15.5%, respectively.

The impact on share was significant. While perennial leader Ford retained the top spot with 18.7%, a gain of 0.4 points compared with August, GM’s slice of the market plummeted 5.4 points to 12.5%, relegating the auto maker to fourth place.

Chrysler and Hyundai-Kia finished second and third, respectively, with share totals of 14.3% and 13.1%.

Rounding out the top six were Toyota at 10.3% and Honda, courtesy of a 1.5-point bounce – the highest among the market’s volume players – at 8.3%.

Toyota increased its share 0.3% from prior-month despite disappointing year-over-year results such as the Corolla C-car’s 11.5% September plunge. The Corolla was Canada’s best-selling car last year.

Other notable negative sales performers included Nissan and longtime market stalwart, Mazda. Their September deliveries fell 17% and 15.1%, respectively.

Volkswagen recorded the best performance on a percentage basis. Boosted by a 10.4% jump in sales of the new-for-’11 Jetta compact car, VW soared 41.3% compared with September 2010.

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