Trucks Drive Canada LVs to July Record

Consumers’ seemingly insatiable appetite for light trucks and an extra selling day powered Canadian new light-vehicle sales into record territory in July, besting the month’s year-old benchmark by 7.0%.

Dealers delivered 176,650 LVs in July, an average of 6,794 on each of 26 selling days, up from the 158,757 units sold in the same month last year at a rate of 6,350 daily.

Although July’s pace reflected a 6.9% decline compared with June’s 7,301-a-day rate on volume of 175,219 vehicles, it made the prospect of LV sales reaching an all-time high for the year all the more real, possibly besting 2013’s 1.7 million-plus units by as much as 3%-5%.

As has been the case for some time, record sales of 102,765 light trucks pushed July to its record standing, up from the year-earlier July peak of 89,187 units. It was only the third time in history that more than 100,000 light trucks were sold in a single month, trailing only May’s any-month record of 111,778 trucks  and April’s 101,951-unit tally.

While truck sales boomed, cars continued to languish in dealer inventory, with July sales of 73,885 units ranked just 13^th over the last 30 years. Although the total topped the 69,506 cars sold in July last year by 2.1%, it trailed by 25.8% the record 99,680 units delivered in like-1986.   

Ford remained in the top spot in July with 28,569 LV deliveries, a 10% gain from prior-year’s 24,890 and a step ahead of second-place Fiat-Chrysler’s 27,894 units.

But Chrysler hung on to its year-to-date lead with 173,398 units, compared with Ford’s 169,838 vehicles.

General Motors ranked third with January-July sales totaling 142,621 units, while Toyota, including Lexus, was fourth at 118,674 cars and light trucks.

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