Record August LV Sales in Canada

Thanks to an extra selling day, Canadian light-vehicle deliveries hit an August record of 158,275 units, edging the prior benchmark of 158,046 set in 2007.

However, the average daily selling rate of 5,862 each of 27 days finished slightly lower than the 6,079-a-day pace of six years ago.

Compared with prior-year’s 5,730-a-day pace on volume of 148,983, August LV deliveries were up 2.3%.

Powering the industry’s performance were record light-truck sales of 88,802 units. That bested the prior August peak of 83,968 by 5.8% in volume, although the daily rate was a scant 1.8% higher.

Although car sales nearly matched year-ago, 158,275 units vs. 158,737, they sold at a 7.7% lower rate, ranking in the middle of the pack for August over the past 29 years. The record is 91,765 in 1985, a time when cars accounted for 76.1% of August LV sales, compared with 43.9% last month.

Ford regained the sales crown with a 1.5% LV gain over August 2012, after slipping behind arch-rival Chrysler in July. For the year, Ford held a 5.1% lead over Chrysler, down from a 10.9% spread a year ago.

Overall, the Detroit Three’s 69,418 August LV sales represented a miniscule 0.3% increase over the prior-year’s 66,652 deliveries, as a result of 3.5% dip at General Motors, where declines at Chevrolet and GMC more than offset impressive gains by lower-volume Buick and Cadillac.

Sales of Asian makes rose 4.7% in to 74,299 units from 68,311 a year earlier, paced by Nissan/Infiniti’s 24.6% gain and increases of 20.0% at Subaru and 14.2% at Honda/Acura.

The North American-built Honda Civic remained atop the car-sales charts, posting a strong 20.1% increase over August 2012, although sales for the year were down 1.5%, narrowing the lead over the second-place Toyota Corolla to 12,028 units from 13,533 in like-2012.

Daily sales of European makes remained flat compared with year-ago, although total volume inched ahead by some 538 units to 14,558 from 14,020. Impressive gains by Jaguar Land Rover, Daimler and Porsche were offset by declines at BMW and the segment-leading Volkswagen brand.

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