Canada Sees 2013 LV Sales Record

Despite a December respite, Canadian light-vehicle sales reached a record 1,739,480 units in 2013, topping the country’s 11-year-old benchmark of 1,699,884 delivered in 2002 by 40,000 vehicles, or 2.3%.

Compared with the 1,672,132 LVs sold in 2012, last year’s tally was up 4.0%.

Favorable finance rates and a strong economy in Western Canada were credited for boosting LV sales in 2013 despite the country’s lackluster overall economic performance and increasing consumer debt levels.

Fueling the record performance was consumers’ continued passion for light trucks, sales of which reached a fourth consecutive all-time high of 984,528 units, up from 923,602 in 2012.

On the other hand, while car sales totaling 754,952 edged past the prior year’s 748,530 units by 0.9%, they ranked no better than 19^th out of the last 29 years, posing no threat to 1985’s all-time high of 1,133,103 deliveries.

Reporting its best performance since 1997, Ford held onto the top spot with 279,765 cars and light trucks sold in 2013, up 2.7% from the prior year.

Chrysler, up 6.7%, controlled the No.2 spot ahead of General Motors, up 3.6%, for the second consecutive year.

Toyota remained fourth in the rankings with sales of 195,380 units in 2013 (including Lexus), up 1.7% from 2012’s 192,058 deliveries.

Ford’s light-duty F-series pickup again was the country’s top-selling vehicle last year, with the 118,639 units delivered beating prior-year’s 102,767 units by 15.4%.

Although there were six monthly LV sales records set in 2013, December was not among them.

While sales of 112,940 units topped prior-year’s 108,611 by 8.2%, it ranked only 11^th best historically, well below the record 140,564 LVs sold in the same month in 2002.

Again it was light-trucks that kept December afloat with a third-best ever tally for the month of 69,864 units, 19% higher than the 61,162 units sold in December 2012.

Light-trucks reached their all-time high in 1997, when 78,471 units left dealer showrooms, followed by 70,135 deliveries in 2002.

Car sales for the month ranked next to last historically.

The 42,949 units sold in December fell 5.7% short of prior year’s 447,449 units and were trailed only by the 41,596 cars sold in 1995.

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