July 5, 2007

Hot June vehicle sales "best June on record"

Richmond Hill, Ontario - Canadian passenger car and light truck sales were up 7.6 percent in June to 169,174 vehicles, and up 5.8 percent for the first half of the year, according to automotive analyst, Dennis Desrosiers.

"This is the best June on record for Canada and comes on the heels of record sales during the month of May. The market is tracking at about 1.70 million units and we now have the possibility of record setting sales for the full year," said Desrosiers.

A number of positive factors are supporting these sales numbers, said Desrosiers. "First, job growth in Canada is quite strong (despite the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ontario) and we have a saying in the automotive sector, "If you have a job, you need a car". And if you have a job you can afford a vehicle. Second would be the strength of the Western resource economies. Third, is the strength of the dollar which is giving many OEMs some pricing power: Thus, you witness the current round of incentives that were launched yesterday despite the strength in the market."

Notable gainers in June were BMW, up 43.2 percent and selling at almost twice the pace of Mercedes Benz. Mitsubishi up 48.0 percent, Land Rover up 39.5 percent, DaimlerChrysler up 24.1 percent, Nissan up 34.8 percent, Suzuki up 25.5 percent, Volkswagen up 29.2 percent and Smart up 21.3 percent.

Of the "Big Three", DaimlerChrysler was up 24.1 percent, Ford was up slightly at 0.6%, but General Motors declined 6.5%. Desrosiers said that GM's sales decline in June is mostly due to lower fleet vehicle sales, as the company is cutting back on sales to rental and corporate fleets.

Canadian vehicle sales by manufacturer:

Manufacturer	June 2007	June 2006	Per cent change
Acura	1,890	1,825	3.6
Audi	844	705	19.7
BMW	2,768	1,933	43.2
DaimlerChrysler	22,029	17,755	24.1
Ford	25,439	25,282	0.6
General Motors	41,860	44,763	-6.5
Honda	15,017	12,737	17.9
Hyundai	7,582	6,801	11.5
Infiniti	661	628	5.3
Jaguar	65	112	-42.0
Kia	3,400	3,003	13.2
Land Rover	300	215	39.5
Lexus	1,272	1,266	0.5
Mazda	9,064	8,884	2.0
Mercedes-Benz	1,436	1,321	8.7
Mini	413	370	11.6
Mitsubishi	1,561	1,055	48.0
Nissan	5,922	4,393	34.8
Porsche	184	187	-1.6
Saab	298	286	4.2
Smart	467	385	21.3
Subaru	1,351	1,265	6.8
Suzuki	1,226	977	25.5
Toyota	19,399	17,256	12.1
Volkswagen	3,778	2,924	29.2
Volvo	1,008	958	- 5.2
Passenger Car	91,729	88,055	4.2
Light truck	77,445	69,231	11.9
Total light vehicle sales	169,174	157,286	7.6

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