While the rest of the world saw a slowdown in light-vehicle sales in August, Canada and the United States continue to charge ahead with impressive sales numbers, Scotiabank reported.
In Canada, passenger vehicle sales were above an annualized 1.9 million units for the second month in a row. The popularity of light trucks, primarily crossover utility vehicles, and enhanced incentives have led to the high numbers. The Ford Escape sold more than 5,000 units in August, while the next-best Toyota RAV4 surpassed the 3,500-unit mark.
In the United States, car and truck sales reached an annualized 17.4 million units in August, which is up from an average of 16.6 million in the last three months.
According to, global auto sales were up only one per cent in August compared to the same time last year, which is the smallest advance of 2014 so far.
While there were solid gains in North America and China, the Western European market has shown signs of a slowdown, while both Eastern Europe and South America have seen double-digit declines in recent months.
Gomes stated that “the stronger than expect sales” in Canada have been stronger than expected in recent months and has prompted them to increase the 2014 full-year sales projection from 1.77 million units up to 1.79 million units.
The improving car sales are also good news for the Canadian auto parts sector, which has also been on the rebound since the global economic downturn. Auto parts shipments and exports have posted a double-digit gain so far this year, having reached the highest level since 2007 this July.
July 2014 was a good month for auto sales as well, with brands like Chrysler and Ford benefitting from the increase the most.
