Driving By Numbers: Canada’s 10 worst auto sales collapses in 2022’s second-quarter

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Automakers don’t have the parts to build a sufficient quantity of vehicles, and even if they could, automakers can’t ship large enough batches to make building more vehicles worthwhile.

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Powered by record incentives, free money, and surplus stock, the Canadian auto industry cruised to record annual volume in 2013 before breaking records consecutively in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. By the end of the decade, 2018 and 2019 produced nearly 4 million total sales, only 2 per cent shy of the all-time best two-year total from the prior 24 months.

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Fast-forward to the present day: Automakers are now charging higher prices than ever before in concert with the near-total elimination of incentives. The notion of interest-free financing suddenly seems far-fetched. Empty dealer lots aren’t at the root of the problem, but the absence of in-stock vehicles — particularly during the spring of 2022 — has basically removed the possibility of scoring a deal.

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Yet, some vehicles have proven more readily available than others. Canada’s top-selling vehicle line, the Ford F-Series pickup truck, actually posted an 11-per-cent year-over-year increase to 32,222 units in the second-quarter of 2022. Huge increases were also reported by vehicles as different as the Jeep Gladiator and Cadillac XT4; the Chevrolet Malibu and the BMW X3; even the GMC Terrain and Mitsubishi Mirage.

At the other end of the spectrum, the second-quarter of 2022 was chock full of popular nameplates — or should we say, previously popular nameplates? — that suffered horrendous sales collapses. We’ve narrowed down the scope by looking only at vehicles that produced at least four-digit sales volume in the second-quarter of last year, eliminating premium marques, and rendering ineligible two-door cars that are prone to significant fluctuation at the best of times, as well as vehicles that are discontinued or in the midst of generational changeovers.

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Remember, while in normal times high sales volume and positive year-over-year trends are indicators of demand, low sales volume and negative year-over-year trajectories are not currently the easiest way to spot failing product lines. Simply put, in a second-quarter that saw total Canadian auto sales volume slide 11 per cent from prior-year levels, these 10 vehicles suffered much more uncomfortably.

10. Nissan Rogue: 4,539, down 45 per cent

If there was one vehicle Nissan would like to have more of, it would be the Rogue, typically the brand’s top seller in Canada. In 2017, the year Canada’s auto industry peaked, Nissan sold 43,418 Rogues. In 2022, Nissan is tracking toward roughly 16,000. The Rogue is quite possibly going to end the year as Nissan’s No.2 model, behind the entry-level Kicks crossover.

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9. Subaru Crosstrek: 3,494, down 45 per cent

Not to beat the drum too loudly, but if there was one vehicle Subaru would like to have more of, it would be the Crosstrek. Bear with us: the Crosstrek, like the Rogue at Nissan, is Subaru’s best seller in Canada, a major success story that grew out of what was basically an Impreza trim package. In the second-quarter of 2021, the Crosstrek accounted for 4 out of every 10 Subaru Canada’s sales. This year that fell to 3 out of every 10.

8. Mazda 3: 1,898, down 47 per cent

Long before the pandemic, we knew the days of Mazda selling 50,000+ 3s per year in Canada were long gone. But the level to which the Mazda 3 has now fallen is more reminiscent of the Mazda 6, a great car that’s become an increasingly rare purchase. Overall, Mazda was down 31 per cent in Q2, a disastrous decline that’s nearly three times worse than the industry at large.

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7. Toyota Sienna: 1,812, down 48 per cent

During a year in which minivan sales are declining roughly three times faster than the rest of the market, spotting a minivan (or two) on this list of epic collapses should come as no surprise. (In fact, the Kia Carnival barely missed out — its sales were down 44 per cent in Q2.) The Sienna was Canada’s top-selling minivan in 2021. It ranks second behind the Chrysler Pacifica in 2022.

6. Kia Forte: 2,257, down 55 per cent

Bouncing back from the worst phase of pandemic auto sales, Kia Forte volume jumped 79 per cent to 5,040 units during the second-quarter of 2021, a gain of 2,221 vehicles year-over-year. One year later, Forte volume is down by 2,783 vehicles, down to a level worse than what Kia produced between April and June of 2020.

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5. Toyota C-HR: 1,140, down 56 per cent

While a supply crunch is causing most automakers and most nameplates to decline, conventional factors are still at play. The C-HR was Toyota’s initial front-wheel-drive foray into the subcompact crossover segment. Quirky styling, a shape not terribly conducive to family life, and the lack of all-wheel-drive positioned the C-HR on the fringe of the category. Now Toyota has a very mainstream contender in the form of the Corolla Cross. For every lost C-HR sale during the second-quarter of 2022 — there were 1,480 of them — Toyota sold neasrly two copies of the Corolla Cross, or 2,743 in total.

4. Nissan Versa: 495, down 59 per cent

As automakers of all stripes hopped out of the subcompact car segment, from Ford and Chevrolet with the Fiesta and Sonic to Toyota and Hyundai with the previously high-volume Yaris and Accent, Nissan decided to hop back in. There were a rather paltry 2,897 Versas sold during the entirety of 2021, not surprising given the lack of interest in subcompact cars. So far, the numbers are worse in 2022.

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3. Honda Odyssey: 456, down 62 per cent

Far fetched though it may sound now, as recently as 2018, Honda Canada was selling nearly 1,000 Odysseys per month and earning 16 per cent market share. Fast forward to 2022 and not only have Odyssey sales trailed off to a trickle, the van’s share of Canada’s dwindling minivan market share was down to just 7 per cent in Q2.

2. Nissan Murano: 747, down 64 per cent

Overdue for its forthcoming replacement — the current Murano was introduced for the 2015 model year — the Murano is losing ground in a severe way to the Ford Edge (up 103 per cent to 4,965 in Q2) and Subaru Outback (up 20 per cent to 3,169 in Q2). Pre-pandemic, Nissan Canada was moving in excess of 1,000 Muranos per month.

1. Ford Ranger: 1,255, down 70 per cent

As if it’s not difficult enough to fend off a global shortage of microchips, shipping containers, and assembly line workers, the Ford Ranger must also now cope with the advent of a particularly formidable challenger inside its own showroom. When Ford was selling 4,125 Rangers in the second-quarter of 2021, the Maverick wasn’t on the market. As Ranger volume dropped by 2,870 units in the second-quarter of 2022, Ford also added 2,518 sales of the more affordable and fuel efficient Maverick.