Canada’s 10 biggest auto brand losers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sending unparalleled shockwaves through the Canadian auto industry, COVID-19 and its associated economic impact resulted in a loss of more than 250,000 sales during 2020’s second quarter.

While a handful of June results showed strong signs of potential recovery, alluded to by Driving in early April, the industry’s overall April-May-June results were disastrous by any historical standard.

(Mazda sales rose 9 per cent, year-over-year, in June. Hyundai said its retail volume rose 7 per cent last month. June was Kia’s highest-volume month in the company’s two-decade history, up 7 per cent from last year.)

Yet the auto sector’s 44-per-cent overall decrease in Q2 sales wasn’t remotely matched by some of Canada’s most popular brands. Seven different auto brands reported fewer than half as many sales in 2020 Q2 as they did in the same period one year earlier. A trio of marques actually reported year-over-year sales declines worse than 60 per cent.

Where there are underperformers, there are naturally overperformers. GMC, Kia, and Ram recorded significant market share gains, year-over-year, over the last three months.

This group below, however, showcases the pandemic’s biggest automotive losers in Canada, the 10 brands that saw their share of the second-quarter market decline the most.

10. Honda

Intentionally quiet through much of the spring’s brutal pandemic phase, Honda sales fell 46 per cent in Q2 while upstart competitors such as Kia (down 31 per cent) and Mazda (down 39 per cent) nibbled on Honda’s slice of the pie.

Honda remains a powerhouse — it’s Canada’s third-ranked brand overall, with 8.4 percent of the market (down just one-tenth of a point, year-over-year). But as Hyundai and Kia expand their crossover lineups and as Honda’s top-selling tenth-generation Civic settles into its fifth year on the market, Honda must be careful not to rest on its laurels.

9. Ford

Ford’s market share decrease in the second quarter of 2020, a mere 0.1-percentage-point drop, would hardly be the stuff of nightmares were it not for the issues facing the industry as a whole. Ford remains Canada’s No. 1-selling brand – 101,410 Fords have been sold already this year – largely due to the popularity of its F-Series trucks.

Given Canada’s insatiable appetite for full-size trucks, Ford’s already-revealed 2021 F-150 is poised to drive the brand’s market share forward in the very near future. In the meantime, the F-Series’ share of Canada’s full-size truck market slid from 41 per cent in 2019’s second quarter; to 38 per cent one year later.

8. Infiniti

Hampered by a similar set of issues to its Nissan parent brand, the upmarket Infiniti outlet entered the COVID period as a lower-tier premium brand and proceeded to shed sales at a prodigious rate.

Q2 volume plunged 71 per cent as every Infiniti model lost at least half its volume, year-over-year. Infiniti sold only 820 vehicles in the second quarter, which caused the brand’s share of Canada’s auto market to fall by two-tenths of a percentage point to 0.3 per cent.

7. Subaru
Subaru’s 48-per-cent year-over-year Canadian sales decline caused the brand’s market share to fall by two-tenths of a percentage point to 2.7 percent in the second quarter. With a product lineup full of fresh redesigns, however, Subaru is in a good position to bounce back. The Crosstrek, Forester, and Outback produce 70 per cent of Subaru’s 8,557 Q2 sales.

6. Volkswagen

Volkswagen’s market share decrease to 3.1 per cent in 2020’s second-quarter, from 3.3 per cent a year ago, stemmed from the brand’s 49-perc-ent year-over-year sales decline. Volkswagen sold 9,784 vehicles between April and June.

The Jetta and Tiguan, which fell by 60 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively, were hardest hit. Golf volume was surprisingly stable, relatively speaking, with a 29-per-cent drop. But that was still equal to nearly 1,500 lost sales.

5. Chrysler

Now barely registering in the Canadian vehicle buyer’s consciousness, Chrysler’s 2020 Q2 market share dropped by three-tenths of a percentage point to – wait for it – 0.1 percent. Chrysler, you’ll recall, is a brand that owned a hair under 3 per cent of the Canadian market just 15 years ago.

Now, with only two models – a minivan and a full-size sedan, hardly thriving segments – Chrysler sold only 471 vehicles over the last three months, a 77-per-cent decrease. The 300 and Pacifica are, incidentally, both built in Canada.

4. Mitsubishi

A 58-per-cent brand-wide sales decline to 2,827 units in 2020’s second quarter caused Mitsubishi’s market share to fall by 0.3 percentage points to 0.9 per cent. Incidentally, Mitsubishi’s worst performer through the pandemic has been the brand’s newest model: the Eclipse Cross. A year ago, the Eclipse Cross accounted for 21 per cent of Mitsubishi’s Q2 sales. During the same three-month stretch in 2020, that figure fell to just 14 per cent.

3. Dodge

It’s not going to get any easier for Dodge, which saw its Q2 market share fall from 2.3 per cent in 2019 Q2 to 1.5 per cent. The Grand Caravan, which is the brand’s best-selling model; and the Journey, long Dodge’s No. 2 vehicle, are both on the chopping block.

This will make Dodge a company that sells Challengers, Chargers, and Durangos, three models that currently account for 0.26 per cent of the Canadian light vehicle market. Total Dodge sales were down 64 per cent to 4,850 units in the second quarter.

2. Toyota

A market share decrease of nine-tenths of a percentage point was the result of a 31,700-unit decline in Toyota sales over the course of just three months. Still Canada’s second-best-selling auto brand, Toyota’s 49-per-cent Q2 drop occurred despite relatively strong pickup truck sales: the Tacoma and Tundra were down just 14 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.

The real turmoil, not surprisingly, stemmed from the car lineup. Canada’s best-selling midsize car, the Camry, took a 72-per-cent nosedive as the overall Toyota car line lost 60 per cent of its Q2 volume.

1. Nissan

In the throes of crisis after crisis, from CEO departures to profit losses to a pandemic, Nissan simply can’t catch a break. With an ageing product lineup, the brand certainly didn’t enter the COVID phase in good standing. As a result, Nissan’s Q2 share of the Canadian market fell 1.4 percent to 5.1 per cent.

The Altima, Leaf, Sentra, Armada, Frontier, Murano, NV, Pathfinder, Qashqai, and best-selling Rogue all saw their volume cut by at least half. New product, including the recently launched Sentra and upcoming Rogue, absolutely must rebuild Nissan’s fortunes. Total Nissan volume was down 56 per cent to 16,303 units in 2020’s second quarter.

Source: https://bit.ly/3h6yP2R