Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: Ford F-Series And Honda Civic Canada's Favorites
Over the last couple of weeks you had the pleasure to travel to China, the USA in 1975, South Korea and Sweden and this week we are coming back to our very doorstep, Canada.
Yes. Canada. If this is too much for you to bear, I understand and this is why I’ve prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, and I can tell you it is extraordinarily good, so click away!
At first sight, the best-selling models in Canada are very similar to those in the US…
But in fact they are not…
The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling pick-up in Canada for 45 consecutive years. Compare that to 34 years in the US. It even beat its volume record in 2010 with 97,913 units sold in a single year… whereas in the US, the record reached in 2004 (939,511 sales) is all but unattainable nowadays. The F Series is the best-selling vehicle in Canada both in October with 6,950 sales and over the first 10 months of 2011 at 81,570 units sold.
As far as passenger cars are concerned, the Honda Civic, it is on its way to be the best-selling passenger car in the country for the umpfourteenth consecutive year. Thanks to the new generation just arrived in dealerships, it is number 3 overall in October with 4,974 sales and number 4 year-to-date at 42,748 units. #1 passenger car in both rankings. Note the Honda Civic was never the best-selling passenger car in the US, this privilege being reserved to the Honda Accord in the nineties and in 2001.
Had the new generation not been launched this year, the Civic would have been in danger of losing its title and the lone culprit would have been the Hyundai Elantra. With the new and improved generation launched in late 2010, the Elantra went from strength to strength in Canada this year and even topped the passenger car ranking for a few months. It is #7 and 3rd best-selling passenger car in October and #5 and #2 passenger car over the first 10 months of 2011 with a shiny 40,051 sales, only 2,700 units below the Civic…
Trucks are back in fashion in Canada in the same way they are in the US. Below the F-Series, the RAM posts very strong figures, much stronger than in the US: it is #2 overall with 5,386 sales in October and 53,833 sales over 10 months.
But the surprise comes from General Motors. With the GMC Sierra at #4 with 4,639 sales and the Chevrolet Silverado at #5 with 3,805 units (notice the reverse order vs. the US), the twin trucks from GM do much better than the F-Series at 8,444 sales vs. 6,950, an performance they are far from accomplishing in the US.
The Toyota Corolla disappointed in 2011, falling from #4 over 2010 to #10 over the first 10 months of 2011. It is however #6 in October.
In 9th place in October but #3 over 2011 we find the Dodge Grand Caravan. Yes Canadian have been having a 20-year+ love story with the Grand Caravan, placing it on the overall models ranking podium almost every year, a score much superior to its US performance. Does it start better on snowy mornings? Canadian friends could you please unlock this mystery for me?
Another trait particular to Canada is the prevalence of small cars in the Top 30: Mazda3 at Chevrolet Cruze at #12 (although in this case this is poorer than in the US), VW Jetta at Hyundai Accent at Toyota Matrix at #18 (yes Canada separates its sales from the Corolla as the Matrix has a life on its own here!), Ford Focus at Nissan Versa at #27 and VW Golf at Canada is starting to look like Australia a little bit – minus the hole in the ozone layer…
A few more models that are much more succesful in Canada than they are in the US: the Dodge Journey, Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Venza (#21 in October).
Reversely, some US superstars are snubbed in Canada: the Toyota Camry is only
The Honda Accord is even with the Crosstour!
Canada 2011 year-to-date Top 30
Canada October 2011 Top 30
RankModelOct-111Ford F-Series6,9502Dodge RAM5,3863Honda Civic4,9744GMC Sierra4,6395Chevrolet Silverado3,8056Toyota Corolla3,5087Hyundai Elantra3,3998Ford Escape3,3139Dodge Grand Caravan2,96710Mazda32,82611Honda CR-V2,67912Chevrolet Cruze2,51313VW Jetta2,31814Dodge Journey1,97315Hyundai Santa Fe1,94416Toyota RAV41,93617Hyundai Accent1,76218Toyota Matrix1,62319Ford Focus1,60720Chevrolet Equinox1,58921Toyota Venza1,43222Ford Fusion1,31623Hyundai Sonata1,27524Kia Sorento1,21625Ford Edge1,12826Ford Ranger1,12627Nissan Versa1,08428Nissan Rogue1,06829VW Golf1,03930Subaru Forester1,039And the golden nugget to finish: some models available in Canada are not even on sale in the US!
Cue the Mazda2, #56 in October
More by Matt Gasnier
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As a Canadian, here are my two cents: 1) Compact cars sell better, because those who would otherwise buy midsize/large cars bought pickups instead. Because trucks will supposedly do better in severe winters (i.e. don't get stuck in deep snow, don't need snow tires, tougher in a collision). I know, I know. That's largely not true. But it doesn't matter. People buy what they think they need. 2) German cars are more popular, because German is the 3rd largest ethnic group in Canada (after Brits and French). In addition, the wealthy Asian immigrants will not buy anything not built by Caucasians.
Why do we buy the Caravan? Simple: Hockey. What other minivan can fit two+ kids and their hockey gear, as well as fitting the BUDGET of a family with two kids in hockey?