Pickup trucks drive rising Canadian auto sales

Chrysler and GM cars and trucks continued to roll out of Canadian showrooms in October, with pickup trucks remaining popular.

The turbulence to hit financial markets didnt seem to affect consumer sentiment, which has been strong since April. Sales are on track to break last years record.

• Canadian auto sales on track for record year
• Gas prices at 5-year low and dropping

Chrysler Canada saw sales up 23 per cent on the month and GM was up by seven per cent.

Honda and its Acura division sold a combined 15,404 units, up one per cent from last year and a record for October, which is traditionally a slow month.

And consumers have yet to react to the falling gasoline prices, which makes driving more economical.

Chrysler's big year

Chrysler Canada saw strong demand for its Jeep SUVs and Ram pickup trucks, selling 22,303 vehicles last month, up from 18,131 a year earlier.

With two months remaining in the year, Chrysler says it is having the best sales in its 89-year history. Sales were up nearly 10 percent to 247,469 vehicles for the 10 months.

Car sales are down 27.4 per cent, but Chrysler has seen a 18.6 per cent increase in truck sales.

GM's sales came in at 22,002 vehicles sold in Canada, with truck sales up 6.5 per cent from last year to 15,260 vehicles.

The new Escalade model helped drive Cadillac sales up 10 per cent in the first 10 months of the year, compared with a 5.4 per centyear-to-date increase overall for GM Canada.

Ford was No. 2 for the month as its sales decreased 2.6 per centto 22,055 vehicles.

Ford reported its truck sales slipped 1.1 per cent to 18,026 from 18,219. Ford car sales fell nine per cent to 4,029 from 4,428 in October 2013.

Toyota Canada said its sales grew 2.2 per cent as it sold 17,977 vehicles under its Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands to mark its second-best October.

Nissan said it posted record sales in October, rising 9.6 per cent to 9,286 vehicles as a 22.5 per cent increase in trucks offset a 1.7 per cent decrease in cars.

The Honda Civic remains the number one selling passenger car in Canada, Honda claims, andHonda CR-V saw gains of 7 per cent over last year to 2,759. AcuraCanada achieved its best October monthly sales of 2,179.

U.S. sales power higher

U.S. auto sales continued their strength, coming in at 16.34 million units (on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis) in October, slightly below market expectations, and right in line with the number of units sold in September.

Light trucks continued to dominate sales, up nine per cent over their levels a year ago, while passenger car sales were up two per cent.

Fiat-Chrysler, Nissan and Kia saw double-digit increases, while Toyota was up seven per cent and Honda six per cent.

GMs U.S. sales were flat, while Ford had a two per cent drop.

Looking ahead, the momentum in the auto market is expected to continue, with sales ending the year on a high note. The annual tally is likely to come in around 16.4 million units, which would be the best showing in eight years, TD economist Dina Ignjatovic said in a note to investors.