From CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2006/06/01/autosales-thurs.htmlGM still in the slow lane as other carmakers zoom by
Last Updated Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:17:07 EDT
CBC News
General Motors of Canada continued to lose market share in May as price-conscious consumers shied away from the company's thirsty SUVs and vans.
GM said Thursday its sales declined 2.9 per cent from the same period the year before, to 44,361 vehicles. This at a time when total industry sales for the month rose by 6.8 per cent to 168,197.
The impact of rising energy prices was clear. Sales of passenger cars rose nine per cent year-over-year, while deliveries of thirstier minivans, sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks grew by only 3.9 per cent.
But the sales trends were not easy to discern. There was considerable movement between the manufacturers and vehicle types.
Chrysler sales rose 21.4 per cent to 24,430, as sales of its passenger cars surged 36 per cent while truck sales rose by 18 per cent. (It didn't do nearly so well in the U.S. market, mind you, where it saw sales decline.)
Meanwhile, Toyota's Canadian numbers surpassed year-ago sales by 20.1 per cent to 23,530, ahead of Ford, which gained 8.4 per cent to 23,044, and Honda, up 20.6 per cent to 13,676.
General Motors slipped badly, but it remained by far the biggest seller in Canada, with nearly twice the volume of its nearest competitor, Chrysler.
Marc Comeau, GM Canada's vice-president of sales, remained optimistic, saying the company is slowly winning back its place in the market. "The key is our new vehicles are taking hold," Comeau stressed.
He noted that Pontiac, with a relatively new model lineup, led GM divisions with an 8.4 per cent sales gain.
DaimlerChrysler Canada said it sold 2,863 units of its new Dodge Caliber small car, more than double the year-ago sales of the SX 2.0 the Caliber replaced. Dodge also moved 514 of its Charger muscle cars, up from 178.
On the truck side, sasles of the Dodge Caravan minivan grew 33.6 per cent to 7,320, while the Jeep brand gained almost 27 per cent.
At Ford, car sales were up 21 per cent, while F-150 pickups showed their strongest May since 2000 and SUV sales gained nine per cent.
Among other makers, Nissan suffered a 23.7 per cent sales setback to 4,568, part of a worldwide decline attributed to a stale model lineup. Mazda slipped 3.9 per cent to 8,588, while Subaru gained 16.5 per cent to 1,708.
Germany's Volkswagen advanced 11.7 per cent to 3,092, while BMW gained 12.1 per cent to 2,120 and Mercedes-Benz was up 13.4 per cent at 1,333.
South Korea's Hyundai slipped 4.8 per cent to 6,804, but Hyundai subsidiary Kia perked up 14.4 per cent to 3,093 vehicles.
