Canadian auto sales steady in January: consultant

Canadian new light vehicle sales were little changed year on year in January, with General Motors posting the largest estimated increase in sales, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said Thursday.

New light vehicle sales in Canada totaled 109,616 units in January, compared with 108,774 units in January 2019, according to a report released by DesRosiers.

January's steadiness followed declines in Canadian automotive sales in 2019. After quarterly numbers peaked at 568,600 units sold in the second quarter, automotive sales dropped to 521,200 units in the third quarter and 413,400 units in the fourth quarter, according to data provided by DesRosiers.

Passenger car sales continued to lag behind sales of light trucks. Car sales fell 17.2% year over year to 22,433 units in January as truck sales rose 6.7% to 87,183 units.

Among automakers with at least a 5% market share in the Canadian vehicle market, General Motors saw the biggest year-on-year increase in sales, recording a 7.6% increase to an estimated 15,384 units in January, according to the data.

DesRosiers said Ford held the top ranking in January Canadian sales with an estimated 16,167 units sold.

CORONAVIRUS

Major automakers have offered a variety of views on the impact on their global and North American operations from the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier this month, Ford said in a statement it was too early to estimate the implications of the coronavirus outbreak on its business.

In a February 14 statement, GM spokesman David Barnas said the company does not anticipate any impact on its full-size truck production at this time.

"We continue to monitor our supply chain and are in close communications with our tier-one suppliers to attempt to mitigate risks to production in North America," Barnas said.

Fiat Chrysler temporarily halted production at one of its European plants because of an interruption of critical supplies, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

"The recent outbreak of coronavirus, a virus causing potentially deadly respiratory tract infections originating in China, may negatively affect economic conditions regionally as well as globally and may disrupt supply chains and otherwise impact operations," Fiat said.