Canadian auto sales for 2012 second-highest on record

[ne_one]

Canadian auto sales for 2012 second-highest on record
The Star
January 3, 2012
by Dana Flavelle

Canada’s auto industry enjoyed its second-best year on record as pent-up post-recession demand and generous sales incentives put 1.67 million new vehicles on the road, according to reports.

Ford Motor Company of Canada finished 2012 as the country’s top selling auto maker for the third year in a row, the company announced Thursday.

The Oakville-based company held onto the top spot despite a nearly 13 per cent drop in sales in December to end the year with a zero gain over the previous year.

Total Canadian sales for all automakers rose 5.7 per cent in 2012 putting them within reach of the record 1.7 million units sold in 2002, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants noted in a report.

This was despite a generally weak finish to the year. December sales for all automakers fell 4.9 per cent to just over 100,000 vehicles, the consulting firm noted.

Among automakers, Ford led the pack with 276,068 vehicles sold in 2012.

Chrysler moved into second place, ahead of General Motors, with a 6 per cent increase in annual sales to 243,845 vehicles. That included a 1 per cent increase in December.

General Motors reported a 6.6 per cent decline for the year, to 226,825 vehicles, including a 20 per cent plunge in December.

Full article at link.

[Canuck]

GM Canada is not the same company post bankruptcy. Employee pricing didn't help December's numbers.

I wonder what GM Canada's plan is for 2013? Third place isn't acceptable.

[calgaryhhr]

At the pace of decline that GM is experiencing and the growth that Hyundai/KIA is seeing it is possible that GM will be in 4th at year end 2013. H/K was only about 10,000 sales behind GM. I think the new trucks will help GM in Canada next year and I think the new Impala might actually sell decently well.

[JT87]

Chrysler is steadily improving in Canada. The 2013 Rams will get a lot of sales. I expect the Dart to pick up. They could use a replacement for the Patriot/Compass.

GM needs to do more with the Cruze. Hatch and more powerful engine options would be a great benefit. The 1.6T would be ideal. Seeing some, but not a lot of Orlando's on the road. Curious to see how the Trax and Encore do.

[MechEng]

GM Canada's performance is not suprising. I don't think it's product so much. The Cruze, Sonic, Orlando, and Spark are vehicles I think should do very well here.

And as a note I am seeing tonnes of Orlando's around here. I would say they even out number Cruzes around here.

The problems as I see it is terrible pricing (compared to US models), horrible lease program and simply poor marketing.

My local dealer has three Trax's on the lot. If I go to the gm.ca website there is little to no information on the Trax. I have to go to a third party website for pricing.
They have a page up for the new trucks but they contain pictures from the old trucks (specifically the engines).
The build and price tool they have on the website won't give you finance or lease information any more.
The colour patches for the cars are terrible and do not well represent the colours of the cars (I have to go to the US website to get an idea of what the colour will really look like).

In short their website is darn near useless.

As for TV comercials they are decent but they have been recycling the same comercials for more than a year.

[Joe in T.O.]

GM Canada is not the same company post bankruptcy. Employee pricing didn't help December's numbers.

I wonder what GM Canada's plan is for 2013? Third place isn't acceptable.

You sure got that right. I don't think GM Canada has a plan for 2013. The only plan they ever talk about is making money.

[Equinox01]

our dollar is par and GM just keeps sticking it to us with the high prices and high freight charges. And service can be brutal

[ne_one]

This quote grinds my orifice:

"The automotive market in Canada is highly competitive and the ultimate winners are Canadian customers, who continue to benefit from better value and better products," said Kevin Williams, president and managing director of GM of Canada.

This doesn't exactly scream "our performance is unacceptable and we must strive to improve."

[Voltastic]

GM Canada's performance is not suprising. I don't think it's product so much. The Cruze, Sonic, Orlando, and Spark are vehicles I think should do very well here.

And as a note I am seeing tonnes of Orlando's around here. I would say they even out number Cruzes around here.

The problems as I see it is terrible pricing (compared to US models), horrible lease program and simply poor marketing.

There certainly is some crappy pricing.

My local dealer has three Trax's on the lot. If I go to the gm.ca website there is little to no information on the Trax. I have to go to a third party website for pricing.

Dealer around Vancouver lists this New Chevrolet Trax for sale

2013 Chevrolet Trax 2LT $ 28,465

and that is a FWD model - not even AWD

[Equinox01]

Having to drive 60km out of town to get my Nox serviced when I have a dealer 5 min. away grinds me

[doh]

2 suggestions GM.

1 A better minivan than the "U" van.

2 Look for a better maker than The former "Daewoo", to make your "Entry Level Cars"

[cad1cts]

Will they ever wake up and smell the coffee in Canada?? Jeesh! Our dollars have been at or darn close to par value for what about 2 years now or so? I doubt they're going to change significantly in value that soon. Just another thing that makes me shake my head in disgust...

[Canuck]

The Loonie has been at or above par since 07 or so. Long enough for pricing to adjust.

A Trax for $28K? Stupid just stupid. A Terrain SLE1 could be had for $25K during employee pricing and a Nox for just under $24K.

Content, pricing and leasing need to be corrected quick.

The website issues are equally pathetic. GM.ca is painful to search as are most dealer sites. Nif you tab between a decent dealer (not good, I have yet to find a good one), and GM.ca you can fully view the options on a car. It is like GM doesn't want people to use the web to do research or improve the buying experience.

Another local issue (Greater Vancouver) is GM dealers advertising non GM cars more prominently than their own product.

[bone]

The Canadian economy is recovering, Auto sales are up and poor GM continues to lose market share. I consider the following as reasons for the slide: Ridiculously high Canadian pricing and transportation cost; too few variations on small cars(Cruze should have coupe, hatchback and wagon like the Golf); too many clueless salespeople( Why would a great salesman want to work for GM?); poor service and pathetic marketing.(Check out GM Canada's website, it's horrible.)

[avro206]

GM Canada's performance is not suprising. I don't think it's product so much. The Cruze, Sonic, Orlando, and Spark are vehicles I think should do very well here.

And as a note I am seeing tonnes of Orlando's around here. I would say they even out number Cruzes around here.
.

that's werid. I have seen less then 5 Orlandos---EVER. I was thinkng they are a big flop