No, it's just red font. Red, which at GoodCarBadCar is a symbol of declining sales, is plentiful in this month's coverage of Canadian midsize car sales.
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| Click Chart To Expand |
So have the Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Mazda 6, and Nissan Altima. First quarter sales of the Toyota Camry were down 3.5%. Volkswagen Passat sales slid 12.6% in March.
The category, as a whole, was down 23% in March. Midsize sales have fallen 25% so far this year. You know it's a bad sign when a 9.5% drop in Mazda 6 sales is a good sign.
• All 242 Vehicles Ranked By March 2014 YTD Canadian Sales
• All 148 Cars Ranked By March 2014 YTD Canadian Sales
• All 148 Cars Ranked By March 2014 YTD Canadian Sales
You could argue that this is just a symptom of an overall decline in Canadian car sales, that midsize cars are no different from the market as a whole. But overall new vehicle sales are on the rise, and car sales dropped between 7% and 8% in March and Q1. This midsize decline is as much a cause as a symptom. Sales of the bigger brothers of these cars were down 10% in Q1. Sales of Canada's top-selling car, the compact Honda Civic, are up 10% this year.
Hyundai has just introduced a new Sonata at the New York Auto Show, but will it reengage a Canadian populace that flocks to the Santa Fe Sport? (2.8 Santa Fe Sports were sold for every Sonata over the last three months.) Perhaps horsepower figures aren't terribly relevant to family car buyers, but the redesign of the Sonata, though improved, isn't all that dramatic. It doesn't scream "all new" until you get inside the car. And about that power, well, there's less of it.
Canadians seem to feel the same way about the midsize sector as a whole: "Are these not the cars our parents drove, and are we not trying to avoid looking like our parents?"
So far this year, the Honda Accord is the best-selling midsize car in Canada. Ford's Fusion led the Accord by 672 units at this stage one year ago.
You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly Canadian auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC's Sales Stats page. These tables are sortable, so you can rank midsize cars any which way you like. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.
Click Column Headers To Sort • April 2014 • February 2014 • March 2013
Midsize Car | March 2014 | March 2013 | % Change | 2014 YTD | 2013 YTD | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
87 | 135 | -35.6% | 143 | 286 | -50.0% | |
613 | 792 | -22.6% | 1146 | 1874 | -38.8% | |
661 | 1274 | -48.1% | 1858 | 2638 | -29.6% | |
59 | 762 | -92.3% | 307 | 1715 | -82.1% | |
1571 | 2052 | -23.4% | 3339 | 4398 | -24.1% | |
1795 | 1862 | -3.6% | 3448 | 3726 | -7.5% | |
1039 | 1381 | -24.8% | 2229 | 3255 | -31.5% | |
723 | 1046 | -30.9% | 1697 | 2281 | -25.6% | |
344 | 380 | -9.5% | 613 | 1409 | -56.5% | |
874 | 1195 | -26.9% | 1963 | 2330 | -15.8% | |
199 | 141 | 41.1% | 456 | 372 | 22.6% | |
--- | 13 | -100% | --- | 57 | -100% | |
1420 | 1262 | 12.5% | 2833 | 2936 | -3.5% | |
536 | 613 | -12.6% | 1556 | 1441 | 8.0% | |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
Total | 9921 | 12,908 | -23.1% | 21,588 | 28,718 | -24.8% |
Hybrids & Electrics | March 2014 | March 2013 | % Change | 2014 YTD | 2013 YTD | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
105 | 82 | 28.0% | 269 | 177 | 52.0% | |
95 | 158 | -39.9% | 205 | 478 | -57.1% | |
--- | 12 | -100% | --- | 37 | -100% | |
75 | 82 | -8.5% | 180 | 156 | 15.4% | |
195 | 201 | -3.0% | 379 | 517 | -26.7% | |
182 | 173 | 5.2% | 358 | 431 | -16.9% | |
13 | 28 | -53.6% | 21 | 86 | -75.6% | |
226 | 244 | -7.4% | 530 | 562 | -5.7% | |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
Total | 696 | 779 | -10.7% | 1563 | 1927 | -18.9% |
Tall Wagons & Crossovers | March 2014 | March 2013 | % Change | 2014 YTD | 2013 YTD | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
77 | 120 | -35.8% | 167 | 317 | -47.3% | |
631 | 534 | 18.2% | 1456 | 1419 | 2.6% | |
680 | 842 | -19.2% | 1639 | 1898 | -13.6% | |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
Total | 1388 | 1496 | -7.2% | 3262 | 3634 | -10.2% |
* indicates a vehicle that is also shown in another GCBC segment breakdown
^ Prius breakdown by variant
^ Volkswagen Canada combines figures for the Passat and CC.
GCBC isn't here to break down segments, an impossible task for any group, but to display sales data for the sake of comparison. The more ways sales data can be displayed, the better, right? This explains why you'll see the Outback and Venza listed with midsize SUVs, too... because readers have wanted it both ways. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts.
RECOMMENDED READING
Midsize Car Sales In Canada - April 2014 YTD
Midsize Car Sales In Canada - February 2014 YTD
Midsize Car Sales In Canada - March 2013 YTD
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - March 2014
Canada Auto Sales Brand Rankings - March 2014 YTD
Large Car Sales In Canada - March 2014 YTD
Small Car Sales In Canada - March 2014 YTD
