February 5, 2003

January car sales: domestics tank, imports varied

After a hot sales year in 2002, things cooled down considerably in January. Domestic automakers reported sharply lower January sales, although the results were being compared with a record January in 2002. Some import automakers reported a record sales month in January, while others saw sales decline.

Among the domestics, General Motors of Canada sold 25,707 vehicles in January, a decrease of 33.7 per cent from last January, which was GM's best January in 22 years. Car sales for January, 2003 were 13,685 units, down 33.1 per cent, and truck sales were 12,022 units, down 34.3 per cent.

At Ford, consumers purchased 15,712 new Ford and Lincoln vehicles in January, a 6.7 per cent decrease from the same month last year. Truck sales fell 3.2 per cent to 11,011, while car sales dropped 14.1 per cent to 4,701. Despite this, sales of Ford and Lincoln SUVs hit an all- time January record - a 24 per cent increase from the same month last year.

DaimlerChrysler Canada reported that its January sales were 13,885, 24% lower than last January's all-time sales record of 18,217. DaimlerChrysler Canada dealers 10,324 trucks and 3,561 cars under the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands in January.

Among the import makers, Toyota, Hyundai, BMW, Infiniti, Volvo, and Audi experienced sales increases in January, while Honda, Acura, Volkswagen and Porsche saw declines.

Toyota Canada began 2003 with a new January record of 8,464 sales, a 13.7 per cent increase over the same month last year. Sales winners for Toyota were the Toyota 4Runner with sales up 172.4 per cent, the Corolla up 3.7 per cent, and the Echo with sales up 52.1 per cent.

Hyundai Auto Canada sales in January reached 3,960, up 15.3% over the same time period last year. The best performer was the Santa Fe SUV with sales up 47.2%.

Among the luxury imports, Infiniti announced record sales for January, its 11th consecutive monthly sales record. Infiniti sales of 409 vehicles was an increase of 62% over last January's 252 sales.

BMW's January sales of 730 were up 10% over January 2002. Sales of the new 7 Series rose 46% in January, while sales of the 5 Series were up 10%, and sales of the X5 Sports Activity Vehicle were up 12% over January 2002. Mini Canada sold 130 Cooper and Cooper S models in January.

Audi sales of 520 for January were up 3%.

Sales of Volvo vehicles jumped 15.8 per cent for the first month of 2003 as Volvo retailers across Canada capitalized on the popularity of all-wheel-drive offerings during the snowy January period. Volvo sold 556 cars compared to 480 last January.

Among the decliners, Honda Canada reported combined sales of 9,154 vehicles by its Honda and Acura divisions, a drop of 0.6 percent. However, passenger car sales increased by 6.9 percent.

Nissan posted January sales of 3,337 vehicles, a drop of 8% over the 3,645 vehicles sold in its record sales month in January, 2002.

Volkswagen's total sales for January 2003 were 2,235, a 4.1% decrease from January 2002 when 2,330 vehicles were sold. VW's best performer in January was the New Beetle with sales of 259, up 54.2% from January 2002.

Mazda's January sales of 3,414 were 8% lower than the 3,709 vehicles it sold in January, 2002. While Mazda's cars sales, except the new Mazda6, were down in January, light truck sales were up significantly. Sales of the B-Series pickup were up 60%, the Tribute SUV was up 30%, and the MPV minivan rose 19%.

Subaru's sales of 941 vehicles were down 19.2% over January, 2002 when they sold 1164 vehicles.

Kia sold 1,752 vehicles in January, 1,140 cars and 612 trucks, down 2% from the same month last year.

Porsche Cars North America announced January sales of 50 cars in Canada, compared to 58 for the same period last year.

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