Year-over-year growth for Canadian auto sales continued in November

Canadian auto sales posted another strong month in November, rising 6.5 per cent over the same month last year.

According to numbers compiled by Toronto-based analyst DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, total light vehicle sales across the country hit 133,860 for the month, almost 8,000 more than the 125,730 sold in November 2012.

Ford was the top dog with 19,660 units sold, edging out the Chrysler Group by a hair in total sales, but well behind its Detroit counterpart in year-over-year increase.

Chrysler’s combined sales with Fiat hit 19,071, a 13 per cent increase compared to the 16,880 the automaker sold in November 2012.

General Motors posted a similarly low year-over-year increase, with its 17,482 units sold only a 0.6 per cent increase over the number of units it moved last November.

The year-to-date market share for each of the Big Three was fairly static heading into the last month of the year.

Also, Toyota and Honda rounded out the top five, moving 14,263 and 12,258 units, respectively.

Each posted gains over November 2012. Toyota said it has already posted a record for truck sales, with the 7,906 trucks sold in November pushing its total for the year to 86,057; the previous annual record, posted last year, was 85,425 units sold. The automaker redesigned its Canadian-built Rav4 SUV and Tundra full-size pickup this year. “With an annual record already set, 2013 has proven to be the year of the Toyota truck,” Toyota Canada vice-president of sales Larry Hutchinson said in a statement announcement the record year. Rav4 sales were up 41.6 per cent in November with 2,857 units sold, while Tundra sales increased 52.3 per cent for the month.

According to the numbers from DesRosiers, total Canadian sales for the year now sit at 1.63 million – an increase of four per cent over 2012′s sales through November.