New-vehicle sales in Canada fell in April for 14th consecutive month with some automakers blaming rain and a lack of consumer confidence for keeping customers off of lots and out of showrooms.
February 2018 was the last time Canadian sales were up month-over-month.
Sales were down 4.6 percent to 183,287 vehicles, according to the Automotive News Data Center in Detroit.
April sales in Canada slipped as parts of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick dealt with flooding while snow fell in Edmonton and Calgary.
David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada (GAC), said the gloomy weather proved to be a metaphor for consumer confidence, which is beginning to wane.
“April’s sales seem to reflect consumer confidence, which was down six points after three straight months of increases, according to the Conference Board of Canada,” Adams said in a statement.
“That said, the industry is still looking at a year that is trending toward close to record levels, which is somewhat heartening as the market moves away from the peak of the sales cycle.”
On Monday, Scotiabank Economics predicted annual sales numbers to fall to 1.93 million deliveries.
If that forecast holds true, 2019 will mark the fourth consecutive year of annual sales greater than 1.95 million, but lower than 2017’s record 2.04 million.
The sales leaders in April were once again the Ford F-series pickup and the Honda Civic, which retained titles of Canada’s best-selling vehicle and best-selling passenger car, respectively.
Trucks represented 72.7 percent of all sales in April compared with 69.7 percent in April 2018, according to the GAC.
Total monthly sales are now an estimate because General Motors stopped publicly reporting their sales on a monthly basis.
Meanwhile, following recent moves by GM and Ford Motor Co., FCA also said on May 1 that it will no longer publicly report U.S. and Canada sales on a monthly basis following the release of June results.
Here’s a look at how some automakers fared in April:
FCA CANADA OFF 10%
Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s April deliveries fell 9.8 percent, dragged down by faltering Dodge and Chrysler sales.
The automaker sold 20,802 vehicles last month, down from the 23,057 it sold in the same month a year ago.
Ram sales surged 31 percent to 8,898 units and Jeep sales inched up 1.8 percent to 6,297 units.
But the success of those two brands couldn’t salvage overall sales figures.
Chrysler sales were down 71 percent to just 512 vehicles while Dodge sales fell 39 percent to 4,988 units.
TOYOTA UP 6%
Toyota Canada saw its mainstream and luxury sales increase in April.
Toyota brand sales were up 5.6 percent to 20,579 vehicles while its luxury Lexus brand saw sales increase 10 percent to 2,655 units.
Toyota got a boost from RAV4, which saw sales increase 24 percent to 6,247 units to top the automaker’s list of vehicles. Tacoma sales were up 20 percent to 1,324 units, offsetting a 10-percent drop in Sienna sales, down to 1,482 units last month.
On the car side, Corolla sales fell 7 percent to 4,575 units while Camry sales were up by 7 percent to 1,580.
Lexus’s biggest gainer was the ES, up 40 percent to 240 units while RX sales slipped 9 percent to 876 vehicles.
HYUNDAI SALES RISE
Hyundai Auto Canada saw its sales climb 5.6 percent.
Hyundai brand sales were up 5.6 percent while the low-volume luxury Genesis brand rose 10 percent.
Hyundai’s top-selling vehicle in April was the Elantra (4,228 units) while the best-selling truck was the Santa Fe (1,564 units).
FORD DIPS 4%
Ford Canada saw sales of both its Ford and Lincoln brands slip in April, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
Ford brand sales were off 4.3 percent to 28,042 vehicles while Lincoln sales were down 3.2 percent to 703.
Overall sales slipped 4.3 percent to 28,745 vehicles.
A breakdown of sales by model was not available.
