FCA Canada 2014: Sales Results Insights

Things went very good for FCA in Canada in 2014. The group almost dethroned Ford as the best-selling carmaker thanks to its very good performance. FCA brands’ registrations doubled the overall market’s with excellent results coming from Jeep (+58%), Ram (+14%) and Maserati. Total market sales went up a healthy 6% to 1,85 million units, mainly SUVs and compact cars. The growth came mostly from the SUVs and sub-compact cars. Contrary to the general trend, FCA occupied the second position in the ranking thanks to its Ram Pickups, its minivans (built-in Canada) and its Jeep SUVs. It is very weak in the C-Segment.

• Contrary to what happens in the US, where GM occupies pole position, in Canada there’s a tiny distance between Ford, the best-selling car maker and FCA, only 1.400 units behind (Ferrari figures excluded due to lack of data).
• FCA and Nissan were the major carmakers to post big positive growths.
• All SUV subsegments had a positive change, while the Pickups growth was somehow offset by the fall on the demand of mid-size trucks.

• The group was able to increase its market share by almost 0,8 basis points. This year it may outsell Ford as the best-selling auto maker in the country.
• Sales by brand are quite well distributed between Ram, Dodge and Jeep. The other brands take the remaining part.
• Very good results for the SUVs (Jeep Cherokee). Bad for the C-Segment (Dodge Dart).
• The MPVs are also an important part of the group sales in Canada.

• As usual, the Ram Pickup (1500) was the best-selling nameplate of the group. Its sales jumped 10%. However the real rock star of the list was the Jeep Cherokee, with sales up a massive 672% and positioning directly in the 5th place, above the Grand Cherokee.
• The Chrysler 300 and 200 didn’t have good results.
• The Fiat 500 was again the nameplate with the highest segment share. However it wasn’t the segment with the highest share for FCA. Thanks to the Dodge Grand Caravan and the Chrysler Town & Country, FCA ruled without any clear competitor in the D-MPV segment.

• SUVs and Mercedes were the most popular premium segment and brand in the Canadian car market. No data for Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Lamborghini.

 Canadian Car Market by Segments

• City-cars are quite unpopular in Canada. They got only a 0,55% market share last year (a bit more than the share in USA, 0,52%). Their registrations fell 17% to only 10.000 cars due to lower demand for almost all of the offer.
• The Fiat 500 lead again but its sales fell 18%. The old Smart was the only city-car to produce a positive result. The Chevrolet Spark isn’t popular at all.

• Sub-compact cars totalled more than 100.000 units in 2014. Hyundai continues to lead but this time Nissan reduced the gap. Nissan was the only big brand to increase its registrations.
• The Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio are ahead, but the Mitsubishi Mirage and Nissan Micra had very good results.

• The country’s second largest segment was up 2% to 391.000 units or 21% market share (in USA this segment counts for 16% of total market).
• The segment is strongly competitive with 6 car groups controlling between 10% and 17% of the segment. Last year Hyundai lost its pole position due to a weaker Elantra, which was enough to offset the demand rise of the Kia Cerato.
• The Civic was again the country’s favorite compact car. Too bad for the Dodge Dart (-23%), which was even outsold by the Subaru Impreza and the VW Golf.

• Contrary to the sales in the US, mid-size sedans are half popular in Canada. Toyota and Honda generated good results while Hyundai and Ford lost some positions. Down in the ranking, GM and Subaru did very well whereas FCA’s sales dropped.
• The ranking by model is quite different from the USA’s. The Ford Fusion managed to rank first again and it was followed by a bullish Honda Accord and a bearish Toyota Camry.
• Very good for the Subaru Outback, BMW 4-Series, and the Lexus IS. All the other German premiums posted negative results.

• Thanks to the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger, FCA kept its leadership in the segment. However their sales dropped more than total segment’s fall.
• The updated Mercedes E-Class outsold the classic 3 from Detroit, Charger, Ford Taurus and Chevrolet Impala and is now close to the leader. In terms of change, the Maserati Ghibli (estimated) ranked first. The old Volvo S80 impresses. Bad for the Nissan Maxima (to be changed this year), Lexus GS, Chrysler 300 and Toyota Avalon.

• Following the trend seen in the E-Segment, the luxury sedans ranking is also led by an American, the Buick LaCrosse. But it is closely followed by a Mercedes and then by an American, the Cadillac XTS. Last year Mercedes and its new S-Class outsold the whole VW Group (Audi A8 and Porsche Panamera).

• Small SUV segment is still very small in Canada. Last year its sales grew 9% due to GM models only. Actually thank to the twins, Chevrolet Trax and Buick Encore, GM controlled a massive 72% of the segment. That dominant position should change with the arrival of the Jeep Renegade this year.

• Compact SUVs is the third most popular single segment in Canada, after the C-Segment and large pickups. Last year sales jumped a massive 16% allowing to increasing its market share by more than 1 basis point.
• Ford repeated as the leader thanks to its popular Escape, but it was Nissan and its 2 configurations Rogue, the best performer.
• Good for the VW Tiguan and bad for the Mitsubishi RVR and the couple from Hyundai.

• Very good results for the mid-size SUVs too. The arrival of the new Jeep Cherokee had a direct negative effect on the sales of the Chevrolet Equinox,  Ford Edge and the Kia Sorento.
• The Jeep Wrangler impresses and occupies the second position despite its age. Toyota doesn’t shine in this segment.

• As Americans, Canadians love large SUVs too. Last year their sales went up 13% with positive changes for GM (GMC Yukon and Acadia), FCA (the Grand Cherokee was again the country’s favorite large SUV), Ford (Explorer sales advanced 18%), and Nissan (the Pathfinder did quite well along with the arrival of the Infinitis).
• In the negative side there are Toyota and Honda (Acura).

• This kind of pickups aren’t popular in Canada. The Toyota Tacoma is the absolute leader leaving behind the Nissan Frontier and the Honda Ridgeline. GM offered 3 different models but its share dropped.

• The large Pickups is the second most popular single segment. The segment composition is quite similar to the US’. Last year the Ram Pickup outperformed the Ford F-150.

• Even if sales of the Fiat 500L more than doubled last year, it is still far from the leaders, the Honda Fit and the Kia Soul. This is a small segment but it is growing.

• Compact MPVs registrations went down a big 16% as many customers moved into the SUV segments. FCA managed to stay in pole position thanks to the always popular Journey.

• FCA leads thanks to the popular Grand Caravan. Far behind there are the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey. This segment is very important for FCA.

Click here to see Canada 2012 results