Toyota trounces GM, Ford and Chrysler in sales

by GARY NORRIS posted October 3, 2006


TORONTO (CP) - Japan-based automaker Honda (NYSE:HMC) has roared past a landmark in the Canadian auto industry, surging ahead of Ford and Chrysler in sales last month with a 46 per cent increase over September of last year.

Total Canadian vehicle sales were 135,764, up 9.3 per cent from September of 2005, when buyers were disheartened by startling spikes in gasoline prices and by the phase-out of employee-discounts-for-all promotions by the North American Big Three.

Last month's sales race represents "a watershed moment for the Canadian automotive sector," commented industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, whose DesRosiers Automotive Consultants tallies the overall industry data.

"For the first time in the history of the Canadian automotive industry neither Chrysler or Ford capture the second or third spot in sales."

Honda Canada said Tuesday that its monthly sales of Hondas and Acuras hit 16,888 units, carried by an 80 per cent increase in truck purchases. The Odyssey minivan moved 2,006 units, up 91 per cent, while sales of the Ontario-assembled Civic compact sedan rose 45 per cent to 7,586.

Honda Canada's gain put it close to Japanese competitor Toyota (NYSE:TM), which sold 17,204 Toyotas and Lexuses, up 12 per cent from a year ago.

Industry leader General Motors of Canada (NYSE:GM), meanwhile, reported an 8.1 per cent rise in September sales over a year ago to 35,687.

DaimlerChrysler Canada (NYSECX) sales were up 0.5 per cent to 16,191 units, while Ford Motor Co. of Canada (NYSE:F) posted a 1.4 per cent year-over-year increase to 15,343 units.

GM Canada said sales of trucks, including pickups, minivans and SUVs, were up 21 per cent from the gas-price-panic slump of a year earlier, to 18,467. Canadian deliveries of GM passenger car declined 2.9 per cent to 17,220.

At Chrysler, car sales rose 10.4 per cent to 3,775 and truck sales declined 2.2 per cent to 12,416.

Despite lingering fuel-price anxiety, Chrysler Canada's vice-president of sales, Dave Buckingham, commented that "pickup trucks continue to have an excellent year, and for the second month in a row we set a Dodge Ram sales record," up 6.9 per cent to 2,914.

Ford's car sales were flat at 4,154 while truck sales edged up 1.9 per cent to 11,189.

Analyst DesRosiers commented that "nobody should be surprised" that Chrysler and Ford have dropped to fourth and fifth in Canadian sales.

The industry is in a new era, he said, with General Motors a dominating No. 1 but Toyota, Honda, Chrysler or Ford all capable of being anywhere from second to fifth in any given month.

"A case can also be made that Ford and perhaps DaimlerChrysler are dangerously close to what might be called the slippery slope," he added, noting that positive consumer impressions of Toyota and Honda clash with a constant toll of bad news about Ford and Chrysler.

"Once you get on this slope, companies find it very slippery and thus difficult to get off."

Overall, September was a solid month, DesRosiers said, partly because of large sales incentives but mostly thanks to "a relatively healthy economy, especially in the West where sales are exploding."

Among the second-tier players in Canada, Japan's Mazda gained 11.3 per cent to 7,044 and Nissan edged up 1.4 per cent to 6,544, while Korea's Hyundai was up six per cent to 6,090 and Germany's Volkswagen declined 4.9 per cent to 3,176.